Forbidden
by Mapperson722
Summary: After being appointed King of a territory, Youko Kurama meets Hiei and signs him onto his personal bodyguard team. When Youko has a daughter Hiei finds that she is the one that was destined to be with him. Will the King allow a simple demon like Hiei to be the mate of his precious Aurora? Will the King's decision tear them apart or bring them together?
1. Chapter 1

(Disclaimer) I do not own any of the characters from the Yu Yu Hakusho series. There are only a few people that I will be adding... Do not worry I will let you all know that they are my characters so that the story line doesn't get confusing lol. Chapter one only has characters from the series so no need to introduce any one yet.

Once upon a time there was a small but fiercely protected kingdom ruled by a selfish goat demon named Yomi. There was only one reason why he was the ruler, he simply destroyed anyone who dared stand up to him. He had a large band of nasty demons that would terrorize the citizens into submission.

At his side stood an infamous fox demon named Youko Kurama. His rose whip was enough to secure the position that his dear friend held. Yomi's slick tongue and charming demeanor was enough to secure the loyalty of the lords in adjoining lands. Together Yomi and Youko Kurama were able to take over a fortress that had once withstood the thundering hoard of a thousand men, as if it were a game for children.

For twelve years, Yomi's true colors showed to his partner in crime. Yomi had become even more selfish and began to treat the great fox as if he was a child needing a good timeout. Youko Kurama was growing tired of being Yomi's whipping boy and slowly began to distance himself from the goat. He started spending more and more time in the villages and getting to know the people better.

What he found was a great surprise to him. In all his years of being a cold-hearted demon, not caring who he hurt, what he did to others, he had never knew a more quaint lot of villagers. Although being ruled and abused by a cruel leader, they were able to hold the grandest of festivities. One day when walking through the village he watched the people bustle around in preparation for a ritual festival to welcome the upcoming winter.

Curious he asked a few people why they did it. Many of the villager's replies were almost word for word the same. They held the festival every year to welcome the warmth of the sun. They would prey that the crops would be plenty and they asked for another year of peace for the next generation. He told a few that he had never participated in something so extravagant and asked if he could help in any way. One of the young women had told him that they needed help setting up the tents for the dining area.

He was more than happy to oblige the young woman and learned that her name was Meena. From that moment on he realized that he had to do something to help the people. He began to plan a mutiny within Yomi's castle and began to recruit able bodied villagers to help.

His plan was carried out exactly one month after the spring festival. Yomi had no choice but to step aside since Youko Kurama had the assistance of the three lords that surrounded the territory. Their armies were surrounding the castle and each of the villagers filed into the Grand Foyer demanding that Yomi step down. After seeing that he indeed didn't have a choice he agreed. Youko Kurama wasn't sure why the goat had stepped down so easily but he didn't care. The goat was banished from the surrounding territories and was never seen or heard from again.

The Lord of the Western Lands announced that Youko Kurama was the Champion of the People and appointed him the new ruler, but Youko tried to refuse. He was told that he was not able to refuse for the laws of the Central Lands were quite simple. The Lords Of the Eastern and Western Lands and the Lady of the North were to appoint the new King. And they chose Youko Kurama.

The next night a ceremony was held to crown him the new King. The Lords and Lady asked if he had a Queen to be appointed as his wife and the new King gave them one name. Meena. She accepted the King's sudden proposal and was married that same night. For eight blissful years the King and Queen ruled their quaint little kingdom with a new and unknown kindness. The three villages that led to the castle were connected by newer buildings and the three small villages became one grand village.

The villagers had been granted the peace that they had preyed for for so long. The trade systems flourished with the King's helpful hand in enriching the soils. Crops could withstand harsh springs and provide a great bounty. Once harvested they were sold to other territories through a treaty that was signed shortly after his appointing. The income of visitors tripled and the population grew to a very healthy and very wealthy nation. All because a clever fox demon was able to free the people that he had helped imprison.

Thanks for reading... I am accepting any and all reviews and comments. Please add me to your favorites so you can continue the story with me.


	2. Chapter 2: Meetings

(Disclaimer) I Do Not Own Any Of The Characters In This Chapter!The names of the lands however I do own. I have made them up and so therefore they are mine. Enjoy the next chapter to Forbidden.

Chapter Two: Meetings

Hiei coughed lightly as a strong wind blew dust over the countryside. Damn this forsaken territory. He hated the Southern Lands. They were nothing but a barren wasteland with huge sand dunes that could terrify a stone mountain. He pulled his hooded cloak lower over his face in a feeble attempt to shield himself from the sand that constantly battered his already tender face. _**'I should have quit while I was ahead!'**_he scolded himself again.

He had gotten into a fight with a trio of demons. He was able to defeat two of them, but the third had caught him off guard and had landed a punch that would have killed an average human. Much to the demon's surprise, it barely had an effect on the tiny demon before him. Hiei had had the chance to leave when the demon had hesitated to attack a second time, but the stubborn little fire demon didn't back down from a fight. He had hurled a fire attack at the demon but the demon was a water demon and had reflected the attack and it sprayed the little demon with steaming water.

The tiny boils from the steam were still bleeding from the multiple punches that had followed the boiling water. When Hiei had been hit about twenty times the demon tired and fled into the safety of the wetlands that led into the Southern Lands. About twenty miles of wetlands were all the comfort the deserts of the South had to offer.

Hiei wished he could have taken another route, but halfway through the deserts of the South there was no point in turning back to go around. Another couple of hours and he would come to the lush forests of the Central Lands. It was the one territory where he hoped that he could fit in.

Hiei had heard rumors that an ex-thief was the King of said lands. If an ex-thief could be accepted warmly maybe a half fire demon half ice demon could find a tiny bit of peace there too. Hiei coughed again when another gust of wind brushed past him. He winced as the grains of sand rubbed themselves into his wounds. He growled as he heard the sound of horse hooves approaching fast. He didn't have the energy to fight anymore! He looked around and found that there was no where that he could use as a temporary place to avoid a fight. He sighed heavily as he just waited as the horse seemed to slow from a full run to a mere trot. He squared his shoulders as the horse came up beside him. He heard the rider clear his throat, but Hiei ignored it and kept on walking.

"Strange to see someone out here on foot, little one," the rider said as he walked his horse alongside the little demon. "Did your horse not make it this far?"

Hiei snorted as he glanced at the muzzle of the large horse. It was a mere inches from his face. He tried to sidestep and gain some distance between him and the huge beast. The step only worked for a moment for the rider shifted the horse's stride to match the demons'.

"Take a hint, rider," Hiei growled lightly when he heard his voice crack. "Go away."

The rider chuckled lightly for he heard the cracks from lack of water. He reached to the left side of the saddle and pulled a large canteen from a bag tied to the front. He reached out and shook the contents next to the little demon's ear causing him to jump slightly. "Are you sure you want me to go away? Cause this will go with me..."

Hiei could hear the water sloshing around inside the canteen and felt his throat constrict. He swallowed hard and sighed lightly. He reached out and took the offered canteen. He unscrewed the lid and raised the canteen to his dry and cracked lips. He took a drink and let the cool liquid coat his mouth before swallowing. He took another drink and felt the back of his throat begin to loosen. He lowered the canteen and replaced the lid. He handed it up to the rider, careful not to show his face to the rider to signal that he was easy prey.

"What is your name, little one?" the rider asked the small demon as he put the canteen back where he had retrieved it from.

"Hiei," he said and squared his shoulders once again. "And stop calling me 'little one', you fool. I am a grown man!"

The rider smiled lightly. "My apologies, Hiei. Your stature made me think of a teenager. I didn't mean to offend you."

Hiei snorted at the rider. "I didn't catch your name."

The rider smirked lightly and nodded. "My name is Youko Kurama."

"Wha..." Hiei gasped as he turned and looked up to the rider.

"Yes," he said. "King Youko Kurama."

Before Hiei could think of anything to say he felt a weird dizziness and swayed on his feet. The King finally got to see Hiei's face fully and felt a pang in his chest. He watched as the little demon swayed suddenly and collapse in a heap on the hot desert sands. He quickly pulled his horse to a stop as he dismounted to tend to the young man. He seen the small boils on his face and wondered just how long the young man had been out here in this forsaken land. He didn't think twice as he gently lifted the man into his arms and turned back to his horse. He somehow managed to remount his horse without dropping the boy in his arms.

"Alright, Nightshade," he said to the horse. "Get us home, faster than light."

The horse protested lightly and shook his great head. Youko Kurama growled lightly as he cursed the blasted creature between his legs. "Back to the castle and I won't sell you off to the first one to offer a few coins!"

The horse snorted at the man who threatened him, but started to trot nonetheless. He quickened his pace until he was able to change into a full on run. The deserts of the Southern Lands soon transformed into the peaceful lush countryside that Youko Kurama called home.

End of Chapter Two: Meetings. I hope you enjoyed it. I will get more posted as soon as I can. Please leave me a Review to tell me how I am doing. I look forward to reading any and all comments and reviews.


	3. Chapter 3: Brighter Futures

_**(Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Yu Yu Hakusho! However the two original characters in this chapter and the chapters that follow are mine. Queen Meena and Princess Aurora are my characters. No haters allowed. Come with me on this continued journey and PLEASE REVIEW!)**_

"Darling," a soft voice said above the sleeping little demon, though Hiei knew it wasn't directed at him. "How long do you think he was out in the deserts? These boils are different than the ones that I am used to healing."

The King shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly cannot say. I know that it had to be a couple of days at least."

The Queen looked back to her sleeping patient laying on the bed before her. "The poor thing. At least his own accelerated healing has started to set in. I think in a couple of hours the wounds may be healed. But his energy levels are quite low. I've been trying to push my energy into him but it isn't working."

"Hmmm," The King crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned back in the chair that was a few feet from the bed. "I am curious as to why he was out there in the first place. He didn't even ride a horse through, and every one knows that if you are going to the Southern Lands that it is best done on horseback."

"Perhaps his horse didn't make it," the Queen suggested to her husband as she dipped a soft rag in cool water. "Some animals can't fathom the heat."

The King frowned and shook his head. "I don't think so... he did everything he could to stay away from Nightshade. I mean, I know that horse is a beast of an animal, he didn't seem to like the creature too well."

The Queen shrugged her shoulders lightly. She pressed the cool rag to Hiei's right cheek and finally noticed that his eyes had opened slightly. "Oh... hello there."

Hiei blinked and looked up at the beautiful woman that was pressing the rag to his face. Her hair was a wild assortment of red and black curls that ran below where Hiei could see. Her soft blue eyes were kind and he realized that those eyes were staring right at him. He groaned lightly as the rag touched a tender spot.

"I am truly sorry, sweets," she cooed softly as she pulled the rag away. "I know it hurts, but it has to be done to help the wounds heal."

When the Queen tried to return the rag to his face Hiei turned his head away slightly. The young woman sighed lightly and sat the rag on the edge of the bowl. She turned to her husband and smiled lightly. "Perhaps you could help."

Hiei seen the King stand up from behind her and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Please... don't..."

The King's approaching steps faltered as he heard the little demon's plea. This didn't sound like the same demon he had met in the harsh deserts. Perhaps he had been out there for days and the heat had finally started to get to him. He shook his head lightly as he continued his approach. He in turn came to rest so that he was sitting on the side of the bed like his wife was sitting on the opposite side. He pulled something from the nape of his neck, under all that silver hair, and enclosed it in his palm. His hand glowed a light green as Hiei felt a surge of energy come from the great fox.

"Just relax," The King said. "This will help ease the pain."

Hiei tried to turn his head from the taller man. However the King didn't come anywhere near his face. His hand with the glowing green light came to rest palm down on his chest. He felt a warmth like he had never felt before. It wasn't hot, it wasn't like the heat he could produce... this was different. Numbing almost.

And just as soon as the warmth pressed into his chest, it was gone. He looked from the Queen then to the King as the pain slowly faded into a minor ache instead of shooting pain. He watched as the Queen picked up the same rag and pressed it lightly onto his cheek. The sting that had woken him before wasn't there this time. The Queen smiled lightly as she dabbed at several spots on his face.

"What did you do to me?" Hiei asked as he turned so the Queen could access more.

The King smirked lightly. "I merely numbed the pain. It will wear off in a few hours. Hopefully by then, Meena will have salved each of the wounds to block any infections."

He turned and looked at the beautiful woman again. Her name was Meena... he had heard rumors that she was the most beautiful woman in the five Kingdoms. But none of the descriptions did her any justice. She was even more beautiful than was told and Hiei couldn't remember why he had come to this place. **_'Did I just want to prove the rumors wrong? What am I doing here?'_**That was all Hiei could remember for his eyes closed and his breathing went into long deep intakes. He had fallen asleep and his body was beginning to heal itself.

Over the course of the next couple of days, The King found himself spending more and more time with the odd little fire demon. He would sit with him for hours just waiting for a chance to talk to the mysterious little man. During some of their small conversations the King had learned that Hiei was a Fire and Ice demon. This surprised the King, considering they were opposite powers and both sides could easily destroy the other, thus the demon that would bear both sides would live extremely shorter lives. He learned that despite the warring energies inside of him, he had learned to control each side. He was a specimen of great energies and the King smiled lightly as a thought crossed his mind one day during one of their conversations.

"What are you smiling about, King?" Hiei snapped, thinking that somehow the King was laughing at him in a way that he wouldn't understand.

The King looked at him and the smile faded. "I was just thinking, that is all."

Hiei frowned as he watched the King stand up from the chair that he had been sitting in. He apologized for the short visit and told the fire demon that he would be back as soon as he was able to. In turn he walked out of the room and set out to find the leader of his bodyguards. Once he found the General, the King learned quickly that several of the men that had been trained to keep him and his family safe had gone missing. This news startled the King but his shock turned into a very interesting thought.

"General," The King said to the burly demon that was the captain of his guards. "I wish to add a new recruit to your team."

"But mi Lord..." the General stopped and looked at the look on his King's face. It was no passing fancy that his King had come directly to him about this. "Yes sir. But who is it?"

The King did not answer. Instead he smiled a distant smile and looked at his General. "Just tell me that YOU personally will see to his training."

The King had never asked the man such a thing. There was a perfectly capable team of officers that always trained the new recruits. He had never really trained anyone himself and the request was a odd. "Yes, sir. I will personally see to this new recruits training. But mi Lord... Who is this person?"

"If he agrees," the King said and looked towards the sleeping chambers where he had left Hiei. "I will bring you to meet him. I can guarantee that he will be a perfect candidate to add to the team. His powers have grown in the short time that he has been here. Grown to the levels that could one day even surpass yours, General."

The General gasped. "Do you mean to replace me, mi Lord?"

The King shook his head and assured his General that the only reason for his odd request was for added protection for his family. It was then that he told the General that his wife and he were expecting a child. With a new gleam in the fox's eye, the King informed the General that he and his men left often and left him and his wife unprotected. "I merely want someone trained by you to remain at my side when you and your team leave. He will be able to protect my family and I if I am unable to fight. He will see to their protection and that is the only reason I ask this of you."

The General nodded with a huge smile. "It would be my greatest pleasure to help provide you and your expanding family with the best of protectors."

The King smiled and dismissed his General. He turned and began to head back to the chamber in which he had promised to return. When he returned to the room, he stopped at the door when he heard voices within. He recognized both voices almost instantly. Hiei was still awake, and Meena had decided to pay him a visit. He smiled lightly as he opened the door and walked in.

"... glad that you are feeling better," the Queen was saying to Hiei. "Your energy was so low when you came, I admit, I didn't think you were going to recover."

"I'm stronger than I look," Hiei said simply.

Both Hiei and Meena turned and looked at the King as he entered the room. Hiei swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away as the King approached.

"Well, it is a good thing that you are here, My Love," The King said gently to his wife as he kissed her forehead lightly. "It saves me from having to relay a message twice."

Hiei turned and looked at the King. This is what he had been waiting for. The King was getting ready to tell him that his energy levels were back to normal and therefore it was time for the disgraced demon to be moving on. Hiei sighed lightly as the King pulled up his chair.

"I have just been informed that several of the General's men have disappeared when they headed out for their last mission," The King began as he looked at Hiei. "This has depleted his team a bit and he needs time to recruit new men. However, this also means that he will be short staffed and unable to leave any of his men here when they do leave again."

The Queen looked down at hearing this. "So what does this mean?"

"The future does look bright, my Love," the King said as he patted the back of her hand. "But that bright future depends on Hiei's answer to one question."

Hiei looked at the King quickly. "My answer? My answer to what?"

The King smiled as he straightened in his chair. "Will you accept the training of my General and become my family's **personal** bodyguard?"

Hiei felt his heart jump into his throat as the King asked him this. It wasn't the type of question that he had expected. He watched the King closly and watched as Queen Meena smiled brightly. He swallowed the lump that refused to leave his throat. He knew that the King and Queen were waiting for his answer. _**'What is with the** **hesitation?'** _he asked himself. **_'Yo_**_**u were coming here to find a new beginning, dummy! They are offering it! Just say yes!'** _the voice in his head did have a point he thought.

"I accept," Hiei said softly as he watched the King and Queen's smile widen at his acceptance.

Finally, Hiei had found the new start that he was looking for in life, and his future seemed to become brighter than ever imagined. He was accepted into this house of powerful demons and they wanted him to grow with them. Hiei fell asleep that night with a content smile. Since his abandonment as an infant, Hiei had never known what it was like to feel wanted. He fell asleep looking forward to the brighter future that was in store for him when he woke the next morning.

_**End of Chapter Three. Hope you enjoyed and hope you review. Follow the story to find out what is in store next for all our characters including a new one to be introduced in the next chapter. GIVE ME YOUR REVIEWS! Gots to go now. Hope you stick around. **_


	4. Chapter 4: A Princess Is Born

_**(Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The Yu Yu Hakusho characters... I wish I did, but I don't. I do own Queen Meena and the soon to appear Princess Aurora. Thanks to all my followers who have been so patient with me and here is the next installment to Forbidden. Enjoy!)**_

Six months after being assigned to the King and Queen's personal bodyguard, Hiei had finished his training and was beginning to take part in his role as sole protector of the royal family. He dressed the part and when looking at himself in the mirror, Hiei could barely recognize himself. Before coming to the Central Kingdom, Hiei remembered that food was scarce and his ribs showing through his skin was enough evidence to that. Nor could he remember a time where he was as accepted by anyone before he came here.

Hiei straightened his outer coat and ran his fingers through his still unruly hair. All the people of the castle knew that his hair would never cooperate and so they forgave the slightly disheveled look. He smirked lightly as he turned and walked out of his room. He knew the King started early and refused to be late on his first week on the job.

He walked down the main staircase into the Grand Foyer and turned to his left almost the second his feet hit the bottom landing. Several of the castle employees would smile a good morning to him and a few even bowed to him as he walked down the long hall that lead to the King's personal library. General Zan was there at the door waiting for the young fire demon. He smiled lightly as his prodigy approached. Zan was very proud that Hiei had taken to his training, even though the main events of his training was merely learning the King and Queen's schedules and also learning about the Kingdom. Upon the ending of his training, Zan was all too happy to swear Hiei in, and was even more surprised when Hiei recited the Oath of Loyalty without Zan having to say anything.

"Good morning, Hiei," General Zan said as Hiei came to a stop beside him. "How does the arm feel?"

"If Arin hadn't slugged me, it would feel better," Hiei said shortly. "What kind of initiation was that?"

The General chuckled lightly. The initiation was a simple pat on the back from each of the members of the teams. However, Arin had gotten a little too into the moment and hit Hiei a little harder than the rest. "Ach.. he didn't mean anything by it. That isn't the worst thing that the boys have done... The last new recruit sworn in couldn't start his job for a week cuz of the beating he took. Ha! But down to business... are you ready?"

Hiei took in a deep breath and nodded to the General. "I took the oath didn't I?"

"That a boy!" Zan said as he pushed open the large doors to the private library. "Good morn, mi Lord an Lady."

The Queen looked up from her book as the two men entered the library. "Just me right now, Zan. Youko will be here in a few minutes. And good morning to you as well."

"Ach... figures the King is late!" Zan said as he walked towards the Queen. He stopped and bowed at her feet. "Then my message must come to you, Mi Lady..."

"I know, General," Meena said as she placed a hand on his cheek. "Youko told me that as soon as Hiei began that you and your men would have to check the borders." She looked up at Hiei and smiled lightly. "I do believe that we are in good hands."

"Of course, Mi Lady," Zan said with a bow of his head. He then stood up and turned to Hiei. "Be alert."

Hiei nodded. "Duh."

Zan smirked as he playfully pushed at Hiei's arm. "See ya later, kid."

Zan walked out of the large library just as the King was walking in. General Zan greeted the King and bid him farewell. The King nodded as he walked into the room. Hiei had yet to move from his spot where Zan had left him and smiled lightly as he walked to the large table that housed the morning feast.

"Now..." the King said as he propped his feet up on the corner of the large table. "Formalities are only necessary when Zan is around. I hate formality. So sit and have breakfast with us."

Hiei almost blanched at the King's request. One rule that Zan had taught him was that an employee never ate with the royal family. He hesitated and looked out the window where he saw Zan and his men mount their horses and charge out of the main gates. He swallowed lightly.

"I had expected Zan would tell you not to eat with us," The King said as he tossed a cherry into his mouth. "Forget what Zan said. I am the King, you will listen to me."

"But..." Hiei began but bit his tongue.

"I have my rules for the employees for a reason," Youko said as he sat up straight. "I do not trust them to know my personal daily life. There are still secrets that they do not know. I want to keep it that way. I have entrusted you with my wife and my own lives and expect you to do as you are told."

The Queen rolled her eyes and sat her book to the side. "Youko... if you expect him to do as he is told, you wouldn't have had Zan train him."

The King looked to his wife. She had 'That Look' on her face and he knew not to say anything. She turned to Hiei and smiled lightly. "Hiei, please. Join us for breakfast. What the King is trying to say is that he didn't want a bodyguard that was a statue at his side. He wanted someone that could blend in with us. A companion for us is all the people will see, not a bodyguard."

Hiei looked down and sighed lightly, inwardly smirking at the way she had emphasized the word King. "Yes, your Majesty."

"My name is Meena," she said swiftly as she picked her book back up and returned to reading. "Only our subjects and employees call me "Majesty" and you are not any employee."

"Yes, ma'am," he said as he sat down.

Youko hid a smile as he watched Meena's face change. "Don't call me Ma'am... I am not my mother."

"I'm sorry," Hiei said. "It's just odd to me. For six months it was drilled into me and I can't just stop on a dime."

"We don't expect you to," The King said as he picked up a book that was sitting next to him. "Just correct yourself when you do."

Hiei again swallowed the lump that was in his throat. With that the conversation shifted to the Queen's pregnancy. She had started to show and the word was spreading quickly through the village that a baby royal was on its way. Hiei had learned during his training that the Queen was expecting a little one and that was why the King wanted a personal bodyguard. Rumors had spread that it was going to be a boy and that Hiei would become the new prince's bodyguard. This scarred Hiei in a way because he had never gotten along with children. The King and Queen had to constantly shoot down the rumors and assure him that he would remain their bodyguard.

Over the next few months Hiei adjusted to his role. He finally learned to address both royals by their first names while in private but he couldn't bring himself to do it in public. They overlooked that and assured him that was acceptable. The Queen would deliver soon and the guards were placed on higher alerts. Zan had returned recently and had informed the King and Hiei that there had been signs of stray demons wandering around the borders of the territory. Hiei stayed closer to the Queen and the King had to admire the protection that the news had inspired in Hiei. The only time that he was not at her side was when she was asleep in the royal chambers. That was the ONLY room in the castle that he had yet to be in. Not by the King's bidding but by his own. A sleeping chamber was a sacred place and he dared not enter, even if ordered to.

Finally, the day came. When Hiei had been walking the Queen through the gardens outside, the Queen had cried out loudly. She informed him that it was "time" and he quickly lifted her into his arms. He raced her as gently as he could to the Healer's wing. When she was safely surrounded by the healers that would help her during her laboring feat he set out to find the King. Searching the entire castle, he was informed that the King had traveled to the village. Hiei sent Zan out, Zan surprised by the authority Hiei dished out. Zan didn't remind him that he was higher on the ranking scales and instead mounted his horse and raced to the village. Hiei was pacing the hall when the King arrived.

"What happened?" the King demanded of Hiei.

Hiei jumped at the harshness of the King's voice. "I... she...we..."

The King took a deep breath and apologized to his friend. "I didn't mean to sound so mean. I just want to know what happened."

Hiei nodded lightly. "Meena requested that I walk her through the gardens... so I did. She cried out... told me that it was the baby... it was coming. I brought her here and sent Zan to locate you..."

The King sighed lightly. As usual, Hiei refused to leave Meena's side. Even if there was a door blocking him from actually being BY her side. Hiei continued to pace. "You are going to wear a track in the floor..."

The sound of Meena's screaming through the door stopped his statement and made both King and Hiei look at the door. Hiei returned to his pacing despite what the King had said a moment before. The King made his previous comment again about thirty minutes later. Hiei looked at him and took a single step to the right, then continued to pace. He heard the King call him a smart ass and nodded his response. The King had plopped down in a chair next to the door that separated him from his laboring wife. He dared not enter the room, knowing that even though he was the King, the nurse maids would shove him out as quickly as if he were a stranger.

After a couple of grueling hours of not knowing what was happening on the other side of the door, and Hiei having paced over a thousand steps, the door opened. The King shot out of his seat and looked at the young nurse maid that was standing there. Hiei looked at her as well as she looked down at a tiny blanket in her arms. It was a solid pink blanket, and with that all rumors of a new Prince flew out the window. Youko smiled lightly as she held out the blanket to him. He took the blanket and held it to him protectively. Zan had shown up a few minutes before and had notified them that a huge crowd of villagers had gathered in the courtyard. They were all waiting for the news. With a smile, the King walked across the hall to the large balcony. Hiei and Zan pulled the thick curtains to the side and the King stepped through.

The second the King stepped through to the bright sun outside the crowd cheered loudly. Youko stood there for a moment holding the baby in his arms. The villagers cheers was almost deafening. They chanted 'Princess' over and over until Youko couldn't bear the noise anymore. He nodded his head to the people and turned slowly to walk back into the castle. Hiei and Zan closed the large windows to help drown out the sound of the villagers still cheering below. Youko was allowed into the room here Meena was walked into the room. She looked exhausted but smiled cheerfully as Youko walked over to her with their daughter in his arms. He gently handed her the pink blanket that wrapped their tiny daughter and sat down on the side of the bed with her. She commented about the commotion outside and said that she could hear them still chanting that a Princess had been born. She smiled as she looked down at the tiny baby in her arms. With a quick kiss from her husband she looked down at the baby.

"My little Aurora," she said lightly. "You hear that? They are all chanting for you. For today a princess was born..."

_**The End of Chapter Four. Hope you all enjoyed. Next chapter up asap I promise. Again please review. Any and all comments are welcomed. Looking forward to the next few chapters... I know you are as well. **_


	5. Chapter 5: Meeting the Princess

_**(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Yu Yu Hakusho series, I am just using them. Queen Meena and Princess Aurora and General Zan are mine though. Thanks for following the story and now without further delay... here is the next chapter in this saga. Enjoy!)**_

Several weeks after the Princess was born, the Queen stayed in her chambers for most of her day. She and the baby had developed a small cold and were fighting it off in their sleeping chambers. Princess Aurora was growing restless of being cooped up in the same room. She wanted to see more. She could hear voices outside the windows and wanted to know who and what they were. Her tiny fox ears kept turning in the direction of the smallest sounds outside of the room. After a few days of being locked in a room, the Queen started to feel better and knew that she couldn't keep her little one locked up any longer.

"Alright, my sweets," Queen Meena said as she pulled the blanket around the wriggling infant. "We will go out for a little while."

She held the baby close as she turned and walked out of the sleeping chambers. A young maid happened to be walking by at that time and jumped lightly when she saw the Queen and the tiny Princess. She bowed her head quickly and smiled when she heard the Queens cheerful voice wish her a good morn. The Queen did not delay any more and walked down the hall that lead to the staircase that would take her to the main entrance of the castle. Meena knew where Youko was and decided to head that way instinctively.

When General Zan seen the Queen approach, he bowed low and smiled at the gurgling bundle in the Queen's arms. "Ach, she is going to be a handful, Mi Lady..."

The Queen smiled lightly as she looked up at the taller General. "And what makes you think that?"

"With all due respect, Mi Lady... I've got six children," Zan said with a smile. "I know when a babe wiggles that much so soon after birth... well they is just a handful from that point out."

The Queen giggled lightly as she turned the baby towards Zan. The entire village knew that Zan loved children. That is why he and his lovely wife had six of them. And were actually expecting their seventh in a few months. Zan smiled at the Princess and tickled her chin when she looked up at him with big golden eyes. The Princess giggled at the tickle and Zan looked back at the Queen. He bowed his head again as he reached for the handle of the door to open it for the young Queen.

When the door opened, she thanked Zan and told him to bring his little ones around when Aurora got to be old enough to play with them. He smiled and told her that he would do so. He closed the door behind her and she turned her attention to the inside of the library. A warm crackling fire was going in the fireplace and she smiled to see both Youko and Hiei sitting in front of it, looking over some charts and maps. She cleared her throat and the two men looked up at her.

"Well, well," Youko said as he seen his wife and daughter standing there. "Looks who is feeling better."

Hiei swallowed the lump in his throat as the King got up, quickly abandoning their previous meeting. He busied himself with picking up each of the charts and maps to roll them up. Once rolled he walked them to where they rested on a book shelf across the room. The Queen smirked lightly as she watched Hiei do everything he could to avoid the meeting that was GOING to happen.

"Hiei," she warned softly as she watched him visibly jump. "We have talked about this!"

Hiei sighed heavily. "And I have told you that I have never been able to get along with kids!"

Youko chuckled lightly at Hiei's new found boldness. "Quit whining like a baby and get your ass over here! What, are you going to avoid her until she grows up?"

"That was my intention," Hiei muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest and took a defensive and stubborn stance. "I don't like kids."

"Then you leave me no choice," Youko said and lifted his hand.

Suddenly vines surrounded the little fire demon. Hiei panicked as they wrapped around him. The weight forced him to sit on the large chair next to the fire. He struggled lightly as the King and Queen started to walk towards him. He had figured that the King would do something like this. They had told him that he needed to know the little Princess because they had intended to entrust him with her sole protection. This dumbfounded the fire demon, he protested saying that he was hired to protect them, not a child.

"I can protect my wife and I," the King had told him. "But I need an extra hand in ensuring Aurora's safety."

Hiei sighed as Youko's vines released him just as the Queen placed the baby in Hiei's arms. He groaned at being forced into holding the Princess. The Queen smiled lightly as Hiei looked down at her with a confused look on his face. The royal family had discovered quickly that Hiei had never actually been this close to an infant before. The thought struck the Queen as slightly funny. Hiei claimed that he didn't like children, when the truth was as simple as he had never been around them for long periods of time. All that he knew of children was that large groups of them were screaming hordes of snotty noses and screaming and kicking and biting. Youko had laughed out loud at Hiei's description of kids. However, this scenario was completely new for the fire demon and the King and Queen had no idea how terrifying this was for him.

Hiei looked down at the young princess who cooed lightly in his arms. He could feel the baby wriggling inside the blanket and sighed inwardly. This was going to be a lot of work. He still didn't feel comfortable even with the infant looking up at him with the same confused look on her face. Suddenly her look disappeared as she wiggled her arms out of the blanket. With her practically laying on Hiei's legs she made easy work of getting her arms free. She giggled and cooed as she started to reach up for him. Hiei tried to distance himself but given his currant position his back was already pressed up against the back of the chair. The Princess didn't care, nor did she cease her attempts to reach the reluctant demon.

"Awww," The Queen said softly. "She likes you, Hiei. She wants you to hold her closer."

Hiei shook his head looking up at the Queen, "No thanks."

"Hiei, am I going to have to force your job along?" the King asked as he looked from his daughter to the fire demon holding her. "She is going to be a part of your life, whether you like it or not."

Hiei sighed and knew that there was no way around this and slumped back in the chair. He looked down at the little fox in his lap and seen that she was STILL trying to reach up to him, cooing and drooling all over the place. Hiei finally relented and let her have a finger. She quickly wrapped both of her tiny hands around his index finger. Hiei's breath hitched in his throat. _**'What the hell?'** _he thought to himself as he looked down at the Princess.

Suddenly, all the loneliness that he had ever felt was forgotten. The room around him seemed to disappear from view and from thought. As he looked into her eyes while she held his finger, a wave of eternal peace washed over him. **_'Maybe this is what Zan was talking about when he said that I would one day want to be near a kid. But... this can't be__ right...'_**Zan said that it would be a feeling of joy and content. He knew what joy felt like, he had felt it when he was given a reason to stay in this castle. He knew content, he had felt that when he learned he had a little sister... but this... Hiei couldn't describe it.

The Princess giggled lightly as she pulled Hiei's finger to her face and stuck it in her mouth. He focused his thoughts on her and seen his finger deep in her tiny mouth. He frowned as he tried to pull his finger free but to no avail. She had a grip! And for the first time, Hiei smirked lightly as he tried again and again to pull his finger free.

The King and Queen had moved away to the other side of the room and were watching the scene unfold. They were chuckling to themselves as they watched the little Princess hold onto Hiei's finger with all her might. She was even grunting as he pulled. The Queen seen the look on Hiei's face and her smile deepened. The King seen her smile grow and looked at her.

"What is that look for?" he asked his wife as she leaned into him.

She pulled her feet off the floor and folded them underneath her as she snuggled into her husband's side. "Oh, nothing. I am just glad that they are going to get along great."

The King tilted his head to the side in wonder as he looked back to the two across the room. She was still holding onto Hiei's finger. However, he had managed to get it out of her mouth and keep it out. She was content with that, the King could see her yawning in Hiei's lap. As long as she had his finger, she was good. The second he tried to pull away, she would grunt lightly and pull it closer. Soon, Hiei gave up all together and leaned on his other arm. His arm hid the smile that danced lightly on his lips. Soon the little Princess fell fast asleep on Hiei's lap, holding onto his finger, and the promise to things to come in the near future. A new day had begun for the family. A healthy young Princess, a strong bodied protector, and an all knowing Queen. The King smiled at the thought of what the future held in store for the four of them and what would happen tomorrow. For today, Hiei managed to survive meeting the Princess.

_**End of Chapter Five: Meeting the Princess. I know that all the chapter titles end up as the last words of the chapter but that is not how I had planned it. It just happened. Thanks for reading and I hope to get lots and lots of reviews. Next chapter up soon, I promise. PLEASE SEND YOUR COMMENTS AND REVIEWS. They are ALL accepted. **_


	6. Chapter 6: A Terror of A Princess

_**(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Yu Yu Hakusho series. I am just using them to further my own twisted fantasies. I only own three characters: Queen Meena, Princess Aurora, and General Zan. Again without any more delay... here is the next chapter to Forbidden. Enjoy!)**_

Six years later, Zan's prediction had become the King's worst nightmare. The Princess was indeed a handful. However, Hiei was the only one able to keep up with her. This made her schooling a very difficult task and even worse, Hiei let her get away with it most of the time. But they couldn't scold the fire demon for it, considering he knew how to get her to behave. The King and Queen quickly learned that Princess Aurora had a massive sweet tooth. Hiei had discovered this a lot sooner and used it to his advantage. The candy maker in the village had become very accustom to the young fire demon. He made regular visits to his shop and he always paid more than the fair asking prices.

"But sire," the candy maker had constantly told the fire demon. "I cannot keep accepting more than I am asking... It isn't fair to you."

"I pay what I pay for good reason," Hiei always answered the candy maker. "How else do you get a six year old to behave?"

The King had overheard this one day and instantly learned Hiei's trick to keep his sometimes unruly daughter in line. However, The King and Queen couldn't use the same trick... and it was all because Hiei was her favorite. The Queen had tried to bribe her with candy one day and she took it and ran. That same day, the Queen found her doing exactly what she had told her not to do. Hiei was right there, though and so the royal family knew that she wasn't in any real danger. But the trees were high and they always feared her falling out of them.

"I wish you wouldn't let her do this, Hiei," The Queen told him one day as she walked up to the fire demon who was standing at the base of a tree looking up into it. "You know how I feel about her climbing trees."

"Got it!" Aurora called from above as she turned and held up her ball that she and Hiei had been playing with moments earlier. She tossed the ball down and Hiei let it bounce away, instead he remained vigilant as she began to shimmy her way back down the tree.

"Do you really think I would let her get hurt?" Hiei asked the Queen. "Besides, it is a good way to overcome her fear of heights."

"That is exactly why I don't want her climbing!" she said harshly. "What if she falls?"

"Then I will be here to catch her," Hiei replied as Aurora came within reach. When she felt his hands on her hips she let go of the tree and leaned into Hiei as she always had. Giggles and smiles and not a trace of fear.

"I know you will, but if she ever did climb high and you weren't around, what then?" the Queen asked as Hiei sat Aurora safely on the ground beside them.

Aurora ignored the conversation and ran back to play with her ball. Hiei looked at the Queen and sighed lightly. "Name one time she climbed a tree without me."

The Queen frowned and opened her mouth to say something but stopped. She searched her brain for an example to give him and realized that Hiei was right. She never had climbed a tree without Hiei being there. The Queen sighed heavily and nodded her defeat to the clever fire demon. "You are right. She hasn't. But what if she did?"

Princess Aurora's ball hit Meena in the back of the leg and she turned to look at her daughter who giggled behind her. "But mommy... I wouldn't climb the tree."

Hiei looked at Meena with an "I Told You So" look and grinned deeply. "I have my ways."

"Yeah, by spoiling her rotten!" the King said as he walked into the courtyard. Aurora smiled brightly as she ran up to her father screaming 'Daddy' and jumped into his arms, whether he was ready for it or not.

Luckily, Youko was always prepared for something like that, and caught her before her butt could hit the ground. He lifted her up and hoisted her up onto his shoulders, slinging her arms over his shoulder while the rest of her dangled in front of him. Aurora was giggling loudly as the feet dangling in front of the King started kicking as the little Princess demanded to be put down. Meena smiled as she watched Youko turn her upright and kiss her cheek gently. He sat her on the ground and she turned quickly to run but his hands held her in place. He was trying to fix her ponytail that had gone lopsided when he had turned her around. She squirmed until the King fixed it and she darted out of his reach the second she was able to.

Hiei snickered lightly as Aurora blew a raspberry at her father. The King shook his head and turned to Hiei. "Hiei, answer me this..."

Hiei's snicker ended quickly as he seen the king pinching the bridge of his nose as he did often when it came to something that his daughter had done. "Yes, sir?"

"How did Aurora get a hold of a thick, green slime?" Youko asked looking up at the little fire demon. "And why would you let her use it on the house keepers?!"

Hiei frowned. "Green slime?" his voice cracked. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Funny thing," the King said as he held up a small bag that was dripping a green liquid from the bottom. "The head of my house keeping staff found this in her cleaning baskets. She said the second that she lifted the towels off of it, it literally exploded the slime EVERYWHERE."

Hiei shook his head. "Don't look at me! I didn't give it to her."

"But you do know where it came from right?" the King asked. "You are the only one that takes her to the village. She hates to go with us, because she knows there are certain stores that we don't allow her to go into. Especially that gag store at the edge of town."

Hiei again shook his head, curious himself how the impish little princess had snuck away from him to get there. "I swear, Youko. I didn't take her there. You got upset the last time I did and since then, I have respected your order of keeping clear of that place."

"And I'm just supposed to believe you?" The King was quickly loosing his patients and crossed his arms. "Somehow I can't bring myself to believe it. You let her get away with murder..."

"Youko," the Queen warned him lightly as she seen Hiei's bewildered look set upon his face. "I actually believe he is telling the truth."

"I AM telling the truth!" Hiei defended. "I have been a victim of the things she got into there. Remember when she glued my fingers together? Took me a week to get that crap off!"

The Queen giggled lightly as she remembered Hiei having three of his fingers glued together. He was so upset, and yet he couldn't stay mad at her daughter. Come to think of it, Aurora did use Hiei as the main attraction to her pranks. Simple things that couldn't be explained until the little princess couldn't hide her giggling.

"Fine," The King said. "Fine..." he looked at the little girl that had been listening from a short distance away. "Just be sure that she DOESN'T do anything like this again."

The little princess frowned as she laid her ears back against her head. She knew that voice from her father. He was mad. And it was directed at her. The green slime had been a joke... a harmless prank on the housekeeper for washing her favorite stuffed bear and shredding it. Okay, maybe it was a little extreme for a stuffed bear but still, it had seemed justified at the time. She watched as her mother and father walked back into the castle. She then turned to Hiei who was looking at her. He lifted his hand and beckoned her with one finger. Uh-oh... she knew that motion. She knew that Hiei had gotten in trouble for her stunt.

"Aurora," Hiei warned as she hesitated to come closer. "Get over here!"

She swallowed the lump in her throat and sighed lightly as she walked over to where Hiei stood. He looked down at her and was not smiling as she thought he would. She looked down and knew that another lecture was about to be dealt.

"Aurora, you need to stop this," Hiei said as he crouched down in front of her. "I know sometimes you get bored, but that doesn't mean that you can go around terrorizing people just to get a kick out of it."

"But... I didn't hurt any one," she said looking up at him. "I made sure it was harmless." she looked down at her toes when he sighed heavily.

"It may not have hurt anyone this time," he said tilting her chin up to look at him. "But what if it did? What if the slime had made someone fall and seriously hurt themselves? What would you have done then?"

"I don't know," she said softly, her voice cracking as she was on the brink of tears.

"No more pranks," Hiei said sternly. "Promise me. Promise me that you will start behaving like a Princess and not like a little Imp that has no care in the world."

"I'm not an Imp," she said.

"At the moment, the world can't see that," Hiei told her. "They see you as a little terrorist who plays pranks that seem harmless at the time. Now I want to hear you promise me. Promise me that you will behave and not pull anymore pranks, no more secret trips to that blasted gag shop, no more being a brat."

Aurora's ears went down as she heard Hiei call her a brat. She nodded lightly and sighed heavily. "Okay, Hiei. I promise not to play anymore pranks on people. I promise to be a good girl."

Hiei smiled lightly as he heard the sincerity in her voice. She reached up and hugged him tightly. "Now, you are going to go in there and find Mrs. Horn. You are going to apologize and ask her if there is anything that you can do to help her clean up YOUR mess."

"But..." she stopped and bit her tongue. She realized that she was getting off easy. "Okay, Hiei."

She smiled brightly at him and turned to the castle. She started skipping up the stairs in search of the head of the housekeeping staff. All the while, the Queen had been watching and listening to the entire scene that was playing out in the gardens below. She smiled lightly as she realized something. All this time, the entire kingdom and even herself, had believed that Hiei had been wrapped around Aurora's little fingers. When in truth, Aurora was wrapped around Hiei's fingers. Hiei was the ONLY one that could get through to her. Hiei was the only one she would listen to unless her father was around. And Hiei was the ONLY one that she would turn to when she needed a friend.

Hiei glanced up at the Queen and she beckoned him to join her in the library. He nodded and stood up from his crouched position. He walked into the castle and headed to the Royal Library where he knew the King and Queen enjoyed their afternoons. Once in the library he realized that the King was sleeping on the couch and turned to leave but Meena stopped him.

"I don't wish to disturb him," Hiei said softly, but the Queen smiled lightly.

"You won't," The King said from his sleeping spot. "It's called a cat nap."

Hiei frowned as he watched the King's eyes open. "I trust that you were able to talk to my unruly daughter?"

Hiei nodded. "I have a feeling that she understands why being an imp is a bad idea."

Youko chuckled lightly. "She stopped being an imp when YOU took her to that gag shop for the first time. Then she graduated into full blown terrorist."

The Queen chuckled lightly from her seat at the window. "I believe that Hiei was able to talk some sense into her. He always can, just wish that I could do that."

"Do what, my lady?" Hiei asked, his formality still hard to get rid of after all these years.

"Talk to her and make it sink in," she replied looking at him. "She will listen to you, but every one else can talk until they are blue in the face and not a word will sink in. I still don't know how you do it."

Hiei shrugged his shoulders. "It's a gift."

Youko chuckled loudly as he stretched out on the couch. "And you said you didn't get along with children. HA!"

Meena giggled lightly from her seat and looked out the window. "I think there is a little more to you than you think, Hiei. And only Aurora can see it."

"What do you mean?" Hiei asked as he sat at the table where he always sat. "You two know me better than anyone else. What else can there be?"

"Secrets," Meena answered softly. "Some that will reveal themselves sooner or later. And I bet I know what it is."

"I have no secrets," Hiei defended. However, he knew that wasn't true. There was a secret that he held and he dared not reveal it. Not if he wanted to live at least.

The Queen snorted lightly, she knew better. She looked out the window again and seen Aurora and Mrs. Horn pouring out buckets of dirty water. Aurora had a small smile on her face and so did Mrs. Horn. When the buckets were empty Mrs. Horn placed a hand on Aurora's back and guided her back inside. Perhaps Hiei really had convinced her to behave. The days ahead would reveal the truth in that. She only hoped that her daughter was going to keep her promise to Hiei about being a good girl. But only time will tell. And time would tell whether or not she was going to be a bratty princess as she grew up or a well behaved princess.

_**The End of Chapter Six. Sorry it took so long to post, stupid computer. lol. Chapter seven up soon, I hope and I promise. lol Please send your reviews. All reviews and comments welcome. **_


	7. Chapter 7: Ten Years Changes Everything

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Yu Yu Hakusho series. I do own Princess Aurora and Queen Meena and a few other minor characters but that is it. I am looking forward to your comments and reviews and thanks to my followers. Without your support, I wouldn't have been able to get this far. So without further delay... enjoy the next chapter to Forbidden.**_

The seasons came and went in a blur. Aurora hardly noticed how fast time was flying since she promised to behave herself. She missed the good ole days when she was a huge pain in the ass, she could look back on the days and smile. She had learned over the years that being a pest wasn't all fun and games. Even when she was naughty, she was punished for it, not severely. Most times she was the one stuck cleaning up her mess, alone. That was the only thing that sucked about her little pranks. Hiei would stand there scolding her for breaking her promise, while she was stuck on the floor with a bucket of water and a rag. That is when she got smart and started pulling less messy stunts. Like hiding the silverware when the maids set them out. When they would return to the table to replace them, the previous ones were back and they had to make another trip back to put them all away again. The King and Queen didn't mind little tricks like that, she was still young after all.

However, her stunts became less and less frequent as she got older. Now that she was sixteen years old, they were almost non-existent. She frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror. When was the last time that she had pulled a small prank on someone? She actually couldn't remember. She shrugged her shoulders and ran the comb through her long curls once more before laying the golden comb on the vanity before her. This night was special. It was the opening night to the Hallow's Eve festival and she was overly excited about it. She always was, Halloween was her favorite holiday, although many called it a night to worship the devil and all. But not for Aurora. Tonight was the opening night for a week of kids running amok through the town. Candy given out to anyone who would take it. A week of dressing up as something other than yourself. She smiled down at her bright blue ballgown. She wiggled her shoulders as she watched the glitter sparkle on her shoulders.

"The prettiest star in the night," Meena said from the door. "And the brightest of them all."

Aurora smiled as she turned to see her mother's costume. She had finally convinced her mother to dress up for at least a couple of nights. Tonight she was dressed as Queen Cleopatra. Her slimming gold dress danced lightly on the floor and the black markings that had been painted on her arms were a perfect contrast to the bright shimmer of gold. Aurora smiled lightly as she watched her mother walk over to stand in front of the full length mirror. She turned from side to side as she looked herself over and gave an approving nod. "That'll do."

"I told you that it would look great on you," Aurora said. "And with dad as the Pharaoh, you two will really look great."

Meena smiled and laughed at the thought of having to convince her stubborn husband to dress up. "I don't see what all his fussing was about. It's just for a few nights."

Aurora rolled her eyes and looked at her mother. "That's what I have been telling YOU."

Meena smiled and tapped her daughter's nose. "Come on, WE are going to be late."

The two walked out of the room and joined the festivities already underway in the courtyard of the castle. The King had already given his speech about the upcoming harvests and that a good blessing was all that was needed for the bounties to be plentiful. To the King's relief, the people had already known that and were happy to hear it again. They also knew that the King hated giving speeches and no one questioned the King's short speech. With a sigh he had declared the Hallow's Eve festival open and the crowd around cheered.

"You know," The King said to Hiei, who was dressed as a pirate. "I wonder what they are thinking when I give such short speeches."

"No comment," Hiei said as he smiled, he knew there was no way to give an answer that the King would like to hear. "By the way... your women are late."

The King laughed hard, he loved how Hiei called them "His Women". Agreed that one was his wife and the other his daughter, the saying had merit. However, he thought it odd that he would call Aurora that. Considering he helped her get away with murder when she was younger, but now that she was growing up into the respectable princess that she was meant to be, he resorted to calling her 'Princess' or 'The King's Daughter'.

"I heard that, Hiei," Meena said as she walked up to stand beside her husband. "And I am the Queen, I am never late."

"Yeah, yeah," Hiei and the King said in unison. "Tell that to the people."

The Queen giggled lightly as she looked over Hiei's costume. "Very nice, Hiei. I thought you were not going to join in the "Childish ways of dress up", as you said."

"No one can say no to me," Aurora said as she walked up with a smile on her face. "Besides, it's a holiday. And it only comes once a year."

"Yeah, so does Christmas," Youko said as he hugged Aurora lightly. "But we don't dress up for that."

Hiei looked at Meena as she smacked the King on his shoulder. "Youko, you are being impossible! Is this what I have to look forward to all week?"

"Of course," he said as he turned back to Hiei who was now looking from the King back to the Queen. "And what are you staring at?"

Hiei smirked as an evil thought crossed his mind. He quickly decided not to repeat what his mind was saying and smiled lightly. "Nothing, Just looking at the winner of the best couple's costume is all."

Meena smiled lightly and started to turn her husband away. "Have fun."

"Not a chance," Hiei said as he turned to see Aurora looking at him. "What?"

"That is NOT what you were going to say," she said with that all knowing grin. "You were thinking something fiendish weren't you!"

Hiei smirked as he knew that Aurora could read him like an open book. "I'll never tell."

"Oh, come on, Hiei, tell me," Aurora whined playfully as they began to walk through the large crowd of people that led from the castle door's to the end of the village.

"Nope," he said and heard her instant 'Why' follow his response. "Because you are too young."

"Ugh!" the Princess was every bit her father's daughter when it came to people telling her that she was too young or too old for something. Especially when it was something, potentially juicy. "No fair."

"Life's not fair, Princess," Hiei said as they exited the gates and headed to the little theater in the village.

The small theater was an outdoor round area. The walls had come down many years ago, after the village grew larger, to accommodate the ever expanding village. Hiei glanced at Aurora who was walking next to him. He barely recognized her costume. She had told her father that she was going to dress up as the blue star from one of the childhood stories that he had told her many years ago. He had instantly assumed that simply meant... well a blue star. He never imagined that this costume would drape over her like it was. It hugged around her shoulders and draped ever so daringly across her hips and flowed like a ribbon of blue to the ground. Hiei shook his head suddenly and looked away quickly. When they reached the theater they realized that the play was almost over already and so they decided to venture on through the village to see what else the villagers had set up.

Suddenly, Zan dropped his arm around Hiei's shoulder, causing both Fire demon and Princess to jump out of their skins. Hiei looked at the general who was dressed as a court jester. "Hallow's eve is great!"

"That seems to be the best fit costume for you, Zan," Hiei remarked as he bodily removed Zan's arm from his shoulder. "You know, dressing as yourself isn't technically considered a costume!"

"Argg," Zan replied as he pulled on Hiei's skull lined bandana around his forehead. "And you are still short."

Hiei growled lightly as Zan danced away like a... well like a clown. Aurora giggled lightly from his side and he turned to look at her. "Something strike you as amusing, Princess?"

"I think Zan has hit the bar a little hard tonight," she said in between her giggles. "And I have to agree with you. He really does seem like a clown most of the time."

Hiei smiled lightly. As they walked further into the village, a group of kids were running around screaming that the witch of the north was after them. When they turned to look, they seen Mrs. Horn dressed as an evil witch with a broom in her hand. She was cackling like a banshee and chasing after a few of them. Hiei turned to see as one of the children screamed even louder. Mrs. Horn had caught him and was hugging him tightly, taunting any to attempt to free him. He heard Aurora giggle again next to him and turned to her. She was giggling at a little girl that had come up to her. Aurora bent down so that she was eye level with the little girl and whispered something to her. The little girl squealed loudly and jumped up and down in place as Aurora stood back up. The little girl that was dressed as a rag doll bowed lightly to the princess and turned and ran away. Aurora smiled again as she turned back to see Hiei staring at her.

"What?" she asked lightly as she blushed brightly.

"What did she ask you?" he wondered.

Aurora's blush deepened as she looked away. "She asked if you were trying to steal me away."

Hiei's eyebrows rose quickly as he watched her cheeks turn from a light rosy pink to a deep blood red. "And your response?"

Aurora froze as she looked at him. "I told her that you didn't have to."

Hiei stopped short as he watched her turn away quickly. She walked over to a group of kids bobbing for apples. He shook his head and started to walk up to her, but when he heard her agree to bob next, he stopped and watched from the shadows. _**'What did she mean that I didn't have to steal her away? What am I doing? I can't feel like this! She's the princess!'** _Hiei silently warred with himself as he watched the group of kids continue to dunk their heads into the barrel of water to catch the apples that floated inside.

All the while, King Youko watched from his own distance. Much to his surprise, Meena was right there with him. They were both spying on the pair that was walking through the village. They watched as the two had weaved in and out of the throngs of villagers, they watched as Hiei and Zan had a few words and they definately watched as they seen their daughter blush.

"Her cheeks were visible from here," Meena pointed out. "Did you hear what she had said?"

Youko had folded his arms across his chest, Oh he had heard it alright. He frowned as he watched Hiei sit back as his daughter stepped up to take her turn bobbing for apples. She had pulled her hair back and one of the kids was holding it behind her so that it wouldn't get wet. His thoughts were not on his daughter, however. They were on Hiei. How dare the little demon think that he could be with her!

"Youko!" Meena whispered loudly and smacked him on the arm. "What did she say? I know you heard it! What?"

"This has to end," he said simply and took a step forward.

Meena gasped lightly and she knew what had been said. She grabbed Youko's arm and pulled him back. "Don't you dare!"

"I'm not going to kill him," the King said. "Just take a limb... or two."

"No. You. Are. Not!" The Queen stepped in front of him and frowned up at her husband. "A word, My King."

Youko's ears went back against his head. He had never heard Meena speak to him like that. In fact, he had never heard her speak like that to any one. He followed her until they were farther away from the festivities going on around them. She turned and looked at him. She crossed her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently at the stubborn fox she called Husband.

"You can't do this, Youko," she said. "You can't make Hiei her personal bodyguard and then get all prissy when she falls for him!"

"You knew?" he growled at his wife. He too crossed his arms over his chest and frowned deeper. "How long have you known?"

"You don't understand, my love," she said, her voice softening. "This is beyond our control!"

"The hell it is!" Youko snapped. "There is not going to be anything between them!"

"Youko! You are being ridiculous!" the Queen threw her hands up and shook her head. She placed her hands on her hips and leaned to the left. "You don't understand!"

"Understand what?" the King demanded.

"Fate brought them together!" the Queen said. "I know you don't believe in all that but I do. I believe that Fate brought Hiei to use when I was pregnant because they were meant to be together!"

"No, Meena," Youko said. "I brought Hiei here as a new bodyguard to protect you and this family as it got bigger. Everyone thought you were going to have a boy! I never would have brought Hiei here if I had known that Aurora was going to be and not a son."

"So what, Hiei would have been perfectly fine, if Aurora was a boy," Meena shrieked. "How could you be so cold about this Youko! Why is it so wrong for them to be together? If all this time has passed and she had shown interest in... in... I don't know... a cook would you have allowed that?"

"No daughter of mine is going to marry beneath her!" Youko snapped. "I forbid it!"

Meena stomped her foot. "My father said the same thing about you! I was forbade to marry you and here we are now! You interfere now and Aurora will never forgive you. And neither will I."

Youko looked at his wife standing there with her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. "Are you saying that you want them to be together?"

"Look at what they have, my love!" she said harshly. "Without Hiei there to reign her in as an impish little girl where would she be now? Huh? Do you think that she would have magically changed if Hiei hadn't talked her into becoming the Princess that her is today?"

"She would have learned from us," Youko said. "Like she should have been doing all along! She shouldn't have needed another person to tell her right from wrong, she should have been hearing it from us!"

"Then why does she cry at night when Hiei leaves to visit his sister?" Meena asked. "If he wasn't meant to be with her, Youko, why does it kill her every single time he leaves without her?"

"What?" Youko asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you didn't notice all the times that Hiei is gone and she refuses to leave her room until she knows for a fact that Hiei is back?" Meena asked sarcastically. "She doesn't listen to us because she knows that she doesn't have our FULL attention. With Hiei she does. Hiei would wait on her hand and foot if her asked him to. She knows that no matter what she needs to talk about, Hiei will be there with his full attention to give her the best advise that he can. And she KNOWS that he would never lead her astray. She knows that he wants her to be the Princess that she needs to be and THAT is why she changed. Because Hiei told her to straighten her ass up!"

"I do give her my full attention," Youko defended. "Name one time that I haven't."

"Very well," Meena said as she took a step towards him. "Four years ago, she came to you to tell you that she wanted to learn more about the kingdom and what it took to become a successful leader in the future. You told her that you were a 'Little busy' at the time and that she would have to ask another time."

"I was busy," he said but stopped as he seen his wife take another step towards him.

"Three years ago, she came to you telling you that Fidget wasn't looking too well. She asked you to call the doctor that you have take care of your horse. You said that you would call him as soon as you were done with your meeting. But before you remembered to call your vet, Fidget had been dead for three days," Meena said coldly. "Shall I continue, My Lord, or do you kind of see the picture that I am trying to paint for a blind man?!"

"I bought her another horse, you know," Youko said softly but he knew that his wife was right. "But I still don't want..."

"Enough!" Meena said harshly. "I don't want to hear another thing about this from you. You have made your point. You don't want anything between them, I say let the dice fall where they may! But there is one thing that you cannot deny. Hiei is probably the best man you know. You of all people know that he would never do anything to hurt her or destroy anything that she loves. That includes you and your relationships with Aurora and with Hiei. Why do you think Hiei hasn't said anything? He doesn't want to break the friendship that he has built with you. But you must listen to me when I say this, my love. Things have changed around here, your daughter and your friend, things that no one can deny. You cannot interfere."

Youko sighed heavily. He knew that his wife was right. He would lose his daughter and his friend if he interfered. But he would lose her either way, if they did fall in love. He sighed again as he watched his wife walk out of the tent and out into the cool night air. Gosh he was getting old. He could tell things were changing around him and he could see it everyday when he was in the village. Gosh, ten years really did change a lot. He just hoped that his daughter could make a good decision. Whether it was Hiei or not, he would support her. He just hoped that taking up with Hiei wouldn't change her, more than it already had.

**_End of Chapter Seven. Hope you enjoyed. I know kinda drawn out a bit but stupid computer kept erasing it so had to keep starting over in several spots. oh wells. So next chapter coming soon I promise. Reviews and Comments are welcome as always and look forward to the next few chapters, it gets juicy, I promise._**


	8. Chapter 8: Hallow's Eve

_**Disclaimer: I Do Not own the Yu Yu Hakusho characters. I only own Aurora and Meena and Zan. Things start to get interesting around here so I hope you are enjoying. Please comment and review to keep the creative juices flowing. No more delays... enjoy chapter eight.**_

Princess Aurora giggled lightly as she placed her hair back in its previous position. She had finished her turn of bobbing for apples and was trying to get her hair back to a somewhat normal state but with soaking wet bangs the job was easier said than done. The man who ran the apple game gave her a prize, a small stuffed bear with a black and red witched hat on its head. She smiled her thanks to the man and the group of villagers that had gathered around to take their turn at the never gets old game. Hiei had made his appearance and Aurora had joined him. They continued to walk down the village until they came to a cart that was giving out caramel apples. Without asking, Hiei got them both one and Aurora smiled brightly as he handed her the extra one.

"Gosh, you know me so well, Hiei," she said as she took a small bite of hers.

Hiei smirked. "Duh, I'm the one who got you hooked on them."

She chuckled lightly as she sat on an empty bench across from the stand. Hiei thought against sitting next to her but she scooted over for him to join her and he knew that if he refused then she would find it suspicious. He sat and took a bite of the apple. He was looking forward to the salty, sweet caramel covering the deliciously sweet and sour green apple but couldn't bring himself to enjoy the taste. It didn't taste like anything. He sighed inwardly and continued to eat in silence as they watched all the children running around, burning off their sugar rushes. Occasionally a child would sneak up behind them and yell boo to scare them and then run off giggling again. Aurora was asked to play a game with a small group of children about six or seven years old. She kindly refused saying that she was a little tired and that the festival had only begun. She told them to find her again another night and they agreed to find her the next night. They all ran off chasing each other as if the Princess hadn't turned them down at all.

"Remind me to steer clear of this area tomorrow night," Aurora said softly to Hiei as she took another bite of her apple. She quickly caught the piece that had fallen off and popped it into her mouth before it could fall again. "Gosh, these are sticky! Where is a wet cloth when you need one."

Hiei smirked lightly as he took the final bite of his apple. He stood up and walked over to the trashcan that stood next to the cart. He grabbed a napkin and a bottle of water from the cart, leaving a gold coin to pay for the water of course. He walked back to the Princess and sat the bottle next to her. He held out the napkin and motioned to the bottle. She looked at him and then smiled lightly.

"I could have gotten them myself, Hiei," she remarked as she took the napkin. She stood up and discarded her apple core in the same trash. She walked back over to the bench but stopped as she felt a slight shift in the wind.

Hiei seen her posture change and looked around. He looked back to the Princess and seen her looking in the direction of the castle. She frowned lightly as she seen several of the villagers running back up the hill to the castle. She looked at Hiei who now stood beside her. "I wonder what is going on. Have any idea, Hiei?"

He shook his head but as more and more of the villagers ran towards the castle he frowned. "I don't know. Come on, let's go."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the side paths that led to the opposite side of the castle. Aurora knew the route and knew that Hiei had been given the order to take that path if he ever doubted the situation. She stumbled lightly on the loose gravel and Hiei caught her before she could fall. She assured him that she was fine and that he was just going a little too fast. She also reminded him that gravel never did agree with high heeled shoes. He sighed lightly as he watched her bend down. She pulled the high heels off and put them in her free hand. She took his extended hand and they resumed their flight to the back entrances of the castle.

Once they had gotten inside, the sounds of several men shouting could be heard. Hiei growled lightly as he heard Zan at the center of the entire mess. "Figures that Zan was behind this!"

"What are you talking about?" Aurora asked.

Hiei froze. The Princess was too young to actually know what Zan was up to all these years. Everyone knew that Zan's wife had passed away five years before, however not many knew about his endless wandering from bed to bed. He had a specific taste for the younger of the king and queen's household staff. Especially Mrs. Horn's fifteen year old daughter, Sadie. He was a charmer and Sadie was no match for his seduction skills. Hiei snapped back to the crowd of men and women shouting in the courtyard. He shook his head and pulled Aurora away. Knowing that Aurora had always been fond of the older fool, he didn't want to smear that reputation of his just yet. He didn't want her to know that he was hiding the secret longer than any other of the staff. He walked her through the back entrance through the large stone kitchen.

"Hiei, what is going on?" Aurora demanded and pulled from his grasp once they reached the great hall that lead to the Royal Library.

"Nothing that you need to be in the middle of," Hiei told her. "Go to the library, shut the doors and stay away from the window!"

"Not until you tell me what is going on!" she snapped and pulled out of his reach again. "Why is Zan at the castle? What did he do to upset everyone?"

Hiei sighed lightly. "I will explain everything to you later, but please, get your ass in there for now."

He turned her around and pushed her lightly into the library. He was grateful that the library only had two windows, and both overlooked the Great Jasper lake behind the castle. It was the perfect room that got sun most of the day, and kept their morning brunches more private than overlooking the entrance to the castle. When Hiei turned around to walk out of the hallway he almost ran directly into the Queen. She was panting lightly as she had jogged most of the way from the village. She sighed outwardly as she seen Hiei.

"Thank goodness," she said as she looked Hiei over. "Did she see anything?"

"Yes," he answered lightly. "But she doesn't know what is going on. I told her that I would explain if she got herself into the library."

"And yet you stand on this side of the door," The Queen stated as she looked at the door that led to the great library. "Don't worry... I will explain it to her. She won't be happy that you kept a secret from her."

"I know," Hiei said. "And that is why she is on that side of the door and I am not."

"Smart man," Meena told him and stood to the side. "You had better go. If you aren't there to intervene I don't know how long Youko will be able to hold off Mr. and Mrs. Horn."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said and turned away. "Please..." he stopped and turned to Meena before he walked away. "Tell her that I never meant to lie to her. It was the only way I could protect her..."

"Don't worry," Meena said. "She will understand why you kept the secret."

Hiei nodded once again before he turned and joined the King in the courtyard. Having to hold back a very upset pair of parents wasn't as easy of task as many would care to admit. He and the King had a difficult time restraining them. However, the King quickly found a way to dissolve the situation. He hated to make this type of decision, considering Zan was his general. But his house keeper and her husband were a part of the household and knew that life would be very difficult if Youko made any other choice. Finally prying Mrs. Horn's hands from Zan's long black hair, he stepped between the feuding parents.

"Enough," he said firmly. "I have a solution. One that is difficult but unfortunately necessary. Zan, from this moment on, you are not allowed to enter the castle unless I specifically summon you."

"Wait," Zan said quickly. "You're banishing me? What the hell, Youko!"

"Zan," Hiei stepped up and grabbed the general's coat before he could take a step in the King's direction. "Chill the hell out or I WILL throw your ass to the curb!"

"Try it, half-pint!" Zan said but soon found himself regretting the decision to taunt Hiei.

Hiei turned both his own body and Zan's around in a single step and started to walk him towards the exit of the castle. "I warned you, Zan."

Zan growled loudly as Hiei walked him through the gates. He turned a sharp left and leaned Zan's back against the cold stones of the outer gates. "Sober up, think about why the King made this decision. You can't keep sneaking into the castle to sleep with anyone that passes your every fancy. Not with Sadie Horn for that matter of all people! You know how much her father hated you! Why in the hell would you do this, after I warned you of the possibility of being caught!"

Zan looked down and sighed. "I couldn't resist! Sadie was such a temptress! All I wanted to do was show her father that she was..."

"No," Hiei said firmly. "You did this because you wanted to get under Horn's skin! And look what it has gotten you, Zan! Was it really worth it? To lose her and the ability to enter the castle grounds?"

Zan sighed again. "I guess not, but what the hell."

Hiei sighed heavily and shook his head. "Damn, and you are supposedly the smart one of the army?"

Zan chuckled lightly, but he knew that Hiei had extensive training and a vast knowledge of weapons, territory and oddly enough on who was really trustworthy. Zan was lucky to be able to call Hiei a friend, and he also knew that Hiei was hiding this so that Aurora wouldn't think so low of him. She had always looked up to the General as the man that was always there to keep her father safe on the battlefield. No one ever wanted to smear that image that she had created. When she took over ruling, she would have to know that the general would have her back as well, but things were not looking like that would ever happen. He had been loosing his focus on just about everything since his wife had died, and tonight was just another prime example. Zan sighed again and pushed off of the cold stone.

"Apologize to Youko for me, Hiei," Zan said. "I didn't mean to cause trouble."

He turned and walked home. Hiei shook his head and wondered what he could do to help the general that he had come to consider a friend. He too pushed off the wall and walked back into the gates. He seen the Horns' still standing there glaring at the exit to see if the drunken general dared to reenter the gates. Hiei smirked as he walked passed the pissed off parents and knew that talking to them wasn't the best idea in the world at the moment. He walked up the stairs that led to the castle and bowed a quick thanks to the butler that opened the doors.

"Hiei," one of the maids called out softly as he began to head towards the library.

Hiei turned and looked at the girl. It was Monica a young woman that had just started working in the castle as a scullery maid. She was cute, a short girl of only four foot five inches with a long main of red hair that wildly framed her face. "Yes, what can I help you with?"

Monica smiled lightly and shook her head. "Actually, it's just a heads up... about what is going on inside the library."

Hiei's brows lifted and he glanced down the hall at the large oak doors that were closed at the time. "And since when do the scullery maids care about warning people?"

"Well, sir," she said nervously. "It's just..."

"Spit it out," Hiei said quickly. "What are you trying to say?"

"The fight outside a few minutes ago was child's play compared to what is going on in there," she said. "Everyone can hear it. Aurora and her dad are arguing. At first it was the Queen and the Princess but then the King... well... everything went to hell in a hand-basket when he went in there."

Hiei frowned. Monica was warning him that the family was arguing behind those closed doors? Huh, that was weird... normally it was Hiei that warned the maids that it wasn't a good idea to go into the rooms when the family was having an argument. He shrugged that off and looked down at the maid who was feeling that she had overstepped her bounds.

"Thanks for the heads-up," he said and headed towards the library. Monica swallowed hard as she turned and skittered away before the entire castle was brought into the newest fight that was ensuing. Hiei sighed heavily as he approached the doors. He could hear the three of them shouting back and forth and it wasn't at all what he had expected.

"... swore to me that you would stay out of this, Youko!" Meena shouted.

"I swore to no such thing," The King defended. "But what happened out there is EXACTLY why I want absolutely nothing to transpire between Aurora and Hiei!"

"I'm not a fifteen year old little girl going behind your back to be with someone that you despise!" Aurora shouted. "I told you that there is nothing going on between us! Ask Hiei! There is nothing!"

"Bullshit, Aurora!" Youko snapped. "I see the way you two look at each other! I will not allow anything..."

"Dad! Listen to me! There isn't anything!" Aurora snapped.

"I am the King! You are my daughter! I will not have you falling in love with the man I hired to be your bodyguard!" Youko shouted. "Aurora!"

Aurora suddenly pulled open the door to the library and ran directly into Hiei. She looked up at him and seen that he had been listening and shook her head. She pulled out of his arms and ran down the hall, the salty smell of her tears the only indication that she was upset. Hiei swallowed the lump in his throat as he turned back to a second set of feuding parents and knew that this night was never going to end.

"Ah, Hiei," Youko snarled as he seen Hiei standing there looking down the hall. "Just the man I wanted to talk to."

"You mean, the one man you want to maim more than Zan?" Meena asked harshly from behind her husband. "Hiei has nothing to do with this! This is just you being a stubborn old fox!"

"Stay out of this, Meena," Youko warned over his shoulder to the mother of his child. He turned back to Hiei who had walked in and shut the door. "And you, you are fired!"

Hiei gasped and looked at the King. "But..."

"I seen the way you look at my daughter! I will not have it!" Youko snapped. "I hereby forbid it!"

Hiei swallowed the lump in his throat again and looked down. "I don't know what you mean, my lord. I don't have anything to hide. You..."

"Then why is it, that every time the two of you are alone, she ends up blushing at whatever you say?" Youko snapped. "Like tonight! Whatever you said to her made her stand out in a crowd of hundreds. My daughter has never blushed unless she is with you!"

"Youko, this is ridiculous!" Meena felt like she was repeating herself.

"No its not," he said and turned back to Hiei. "What exactly did you say to her?"

Hiei shook his head. "I didn't say anything to her tonight. A little girl had told her that her costume was beautiful and I simply agreed with the kid!"

Meena shook her head lightly. She knew that was a fib and she knew for a fact that Youko knew it too. Hiei shook his head. "I'm sorry if I ever gave you any notions that I wanted your daughter. It was never my intentions."

Youko frowned as he looked over the little fire demon. "Is that all you have to say to me? You aren't going to fight your termination?"

Hiei shook his head. "You have made your decision. You are the King, and I have no say in whether or not you keep me here."

Youko frowned and crossed his arms. "You are hiding something from me, Hiei. I know that you are."

Hiei sighed heavily and looked out the windows. He looked back at the King and Queen. "Like I said. I have nothing to hide. Except for the fact that you two were the only ones to ever show me the kindness that you have. I grew up on the streets and without anyone to look after me. I learned the things that I know because I had to fight my way to where I was. The only thing that I have to hide is how much this hurts."

Meena smacked Youko on the arm but he ignored her, wondering how much more Hiei had to say. To his surprise, Hiei did continue.

"I only have one regret, my lord," Hiei said and took a step back. "I regret having disappointed you. I never meant to. I learned a great deal from you and your people and for that I will always be grateful. I hope that you and your family can heal, and that you can forgive whatever I have done to wrong you."

With that, Hiei bowed lightly and turned on his heel. He walked out of the library, leaving the doors open and the King and Queen standing there stunned. The King hadn't expected that. He just fired Hiei and Hiei accepted it as if he was waiting for it. Youko looked down at his wife and seen the tears in her eyes.

"I warned you this would happen, Youko," she said coldly as she walked out of the room. "Now what do you have? A general that can't come to your home, a daughter that hates you, and a bodyguard that learned how to live in peace while here, who you just sent on his way... congratulations, My Love... it turns out that you were right about Halloween being a retched holiday. One that never should have been celebrated but hated because of that fact that EVERYONE lies on this one and only night... but it turned out that you were wrong... the only thing that ended up being hollow this evening was you."

With that, the Queen walked away from the library to leave the king alone. Youko looked down at his feet and shook his head. **_'What have I done? Meena is right... the only thing hollow... is_ me...'** Youko sighed once again and looked around the room that was once the joy of his mornings. He shook his head once more and mentally cursed himself for being such an ass. He ran out of the room just in time to see Hiei racing out of the courtyard on his horse. He cursed himself again and called for his horse to be brought to the front. He would be damned if his night really did end on such a sour note. He reached for his coat and pulled it on as he descended the stairs to where his horse waited impatiently. He mounted in one quick motion and the King fell into pursuit of the man he would soon come to miss.

End of chapter Eight. I know it's a bit of a cliffhanger but... TOO BAD! he-he well it keeps all of you interested and so I like to keep you guessing every now and then. That's all for now, stay tuned for chapter nine, coming soon I promise.


	9. Chapter 9 Hallowed Halls & Hollow Hearts

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the Yu Yu Hakusho characters. I do own Princess Aurora, Queen Meena, General Zan and maybe a few others. Alright, without any more delays, here is the next installment to Forbidden. **_

The King sighed heavily as he pressed his heels into Nightshade's side, urging him to go faster. The entire village knew that Hiei had the fastest horse known to man and Youko knew that Nightshade was no match for Quicksilver, but he urged him on nonetheless. Youko was glad that Quicksilver's hooves left a very distinguished mark. As long as the King could follow the tracks that Hiei's horse left behind he knew that he could find him. Jumping the river that split his kingdom into three parts Youko shook his head and half laughed to himself.

"I swear that horse of yours prefers Jet Fuel to oats and grains, like a normal horse!" Youko said to himself as he came to a high ridge that overlooked a long sweeping valley. "Why couldn't Quicksilver be lame?"

A bolt of lightning lit up the night sky and moments later a gentle rain began it's steady downfall. Youko grumbled and groaned as he and Nightshade finally made it to the opening to the valley. The rain fell harder as he began to retrace Hiei's steps. Could this night get any worse? the King thought to himself. Obviously to could, for at that moment the skies opened up and rain began to pour without remorse. Youko sighed heavily as he lost the trail a few miles later. He could only recognize the trees and finally realized that he had lost the trail and found himself going in a circle. He groaned again and turned his horse for home. He would resume his search tomorrow, just hoping that Hiei had the sense to stop for the night and give the King a chance at finding him.

_))_))

Meanwhile, Meena was sitting at the foot of the bed while Aurora paced back and forth venting about how much she hated her father. Meena sat silently as Aurora paced the length of her bedroom time and time again as she repeated that her father was being a stubborn jackass. By the time that the rain had really began to fall, Meena had heard the very same conversation that she had told her husband earlier that evening. She tried to interject and comfort Aurora but something was off about her daughter. Meena watched as Aurora paced to the window, looked out and then back to the door, and then back again. Something was truly agitating her daughter and for once she could not place it. She has seen Aurora's anger before, granted it had never been directed at her father before, but this wasn't JUST anger. Something was being masked by the anger, something that lay hidden beneath the mask and it bugged Meena that she couldn't see what.

"Aurora, sit down and talk to me," Meena finally said as a thought came to mind. "I want the truth."

Aurora sat in front of her mother and sighed heavily. "You know the truth."

"I know for a fact that you are hiding something from me," Meena said thinking that this was a major deja-vu from earlier that evening. "I want the truth, Aurora Cassi. Do you have feelings for Hiei? And do not lie to me."

Aurora sighed and looked down. Picking at her quilt she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what I feel, mama. I really don't."

"Tell me," Meena urged softly.

"I don't know," Aurora said again and stood up. She walked to her window and leaned her forehead against the cool glass. "When I'm around him... I feel... I don't know, confused."

Meena smiled at her daughter's confession and stood up to stand beside her. "Why is it confusing?"

Aurora shrugged. "I don't know, mama." She sighed lightly as she searched her brain for a way to explain what she felt. "It's like all the pieces to a puzzle that fit into place... but when Hiei is gone... it's like he has taken a piece to that same puzzle, therefore it isn't right."

Meena's smile grew as she finally understood why all these years the two of them had been inseparable. "Like a finished puzzle, you feel complete by his side."

Aurora turned and looked at her mother as she nodded. "When daddy said that there couldn't be anything between us... it actually hurt, mama. Why could a simple statement hurt so much?"

Meena wrapped her arms around Aurora and hugged her tightly. "Because sometimes, love hurts, baby. Trust me, the pain will ease. I know that at this very moment it may feel like the entire world is closing in around you. But it won't last forever, my love."

"But it hurts so bad, mama," Aurora said as she buried her head into her mother's shoulder and wept lightly.

"Everything has a way of working itself out, baby," she said softly as she glanced up at the opening of Aurora's door. "I promise, Everything will work out in the end."

_))_

Youko's ears pressed back against his skull as he watched from Aurora's door. When he had entered the castle a few minutes before, he had felt a strange sadness within the walls. He stepped away from her door and turned towards the master bedchamber. Before he could reach his own room he had no choice but to pass Hiei's room. He stopped for a moment and stared at the door, wishing for a moment that the entire evening had just been a bad dream. He stood there wishing that Hiei would walk out into the hall and scold the fox for being nosy. But he knew that no matter how long he stood there and stared, Hiei wouldn't come out, because he was the reason that the spitfire little demon wasn't there. And he knew that he was the very reason that his own little girl was in the other room crying.

"Why did I have to open my big mouth, Meena?" Youko asked as he heard her close the door behind her as she walked out of Aurora's room. "Why couldn't I have just listened to you and kept my nose out of this?"

Meena sighed lightly as she walked past her husband. "I don't know why you choose not to listen to me, my love. I ask myself that more often than I would like to. But you are who you are and foxes can be some of the most stubborn of all demons."

"Can you ever forgive me?" he asked her softly as he leaned his head against the door frame of Hiei's room.

"You are my husband, Youko," Meena said softly. "I will always be able to forgive you. But it isn't me that you should be asking. Hiei is the first one that you should ask. Did you find him?"

Youko sighed heavily and looked at his wife. His ears went down again as he shook his head. "His tracks were washed away too quickly. I will send out scouts and resume my search tomorrow. I will find him, Meena, I have to."

Meena nodded as she smiled lightly at him. "You had better. Otherwise this household is going to change drastically. And I for one am not a fan of drastic change."

Youko nodded and watched as Meena walked into the bedroom. He assured her that he would join her shortly and walked back down the stairs to the library. He knew that his messenger would be here early in the morning to deliver messages and take whatever needed to be sent. He wrote several messages to several of his men to scout out the territory looking for Hiei. They were all instructed to start search parties if a scout search was unsuccessful. He informed two of his men, including Zan that he would be resuming his search where he had left off that night and that he wished for Zan and his son Roger to join him. He signed them all and placed his seal on the outer envelopes. Placing the names to whom they needed to be delivered to, he propped them up so that the carrier wouldn't miss them. He turned out the light and sighed lightly as he went up the stairs to join his wife. He doubted that he would sleep that night, but he knew that he had to try.

_))_))

The next morning and the rest of the day, the King and his men searched for Hiei throughout the territory. There was no trace of the little fire demon. Youko had sent several of the men home, but he remained in the valley that he had been to the night before. He sighed heavily as he tried to use his powers to raise the ground around any faint horse prints. But the rain had soaked the ground to the point that the soil didn't want to cooperate with the King. Youko did not want to give up the search. He continued to search well into the night, while Zan and Roger had made camp for the night, the King continued on. He had to find the demon or else his wife was right. Aurora would never forgive him and he dreaded what would happen if that came to pass.

Two days later, Youko returned to the castle and went to the library. He sighed lightly as he seen Meena and Aurora sitting on the balcony that overlooked the great lake. He had hoped that they had already begun the rest of their day and that he would have a moment alone to think. Movement caught Meena's attention and she turned to see her husband. The look on his face was discouraging and she looked down. Aurora didn't have to look at either one of her parents to know that Hiei wasn't there. She growled lightly and stood up. She walked into the library and walked past her father.

"Aurora, wait," Youko said before she could leave.

She stopped and looked at him. Her ears were down in a defensive state and she crossed her arms over her chest. "What?"

"You know Hiei better than anyone," Youko said to her. "Did he mention where he would go?"

"Why should I tell you?" Aurora snapped and looked at him angrily. "So that you can tell him once again that there can't be anything between us? That he is below me and that I should be with someone my own age?"

Youko shook his head with a sigh. "Just the opposite. I shouldn't have said anything to either one of you. The other night just got out of hand and I want to find him so that I can make things right."

"Yeah, right." Aurora turned to leave but paused. "What do you mean make things right?"

"I heard you the other night," Youko said. "I know that you care about him and it is obvious that he does as well. He wouldn't have left, nor would he have lied to protect you if he didn't."

Aurora frowned. "I don't know how I can help. He only mentioned that he had a little sister somewhere and that every now and then he would go visit her. He never mentioned where, though."

She looked down and turned to leave. She knew that she shouldn't have mentioned Hiei's sister, not many people knew about her and she knew why. She was special because she was an Ice Maiden, capable of making tear gems that were worth a lot of money. She was bound to secrecy when Hiei told her and she knew that she had made a mistake in mentioning anything. But at the moment, she didn't care. She wanted him back, and if her father was willing to bring him back for her, then the betrayal was worth it.

She walked down the hall and stopped at the staircase. She knew more than she had told her father. She knew which area that Hiei would visit. Just not the exact location. She frowned as she walked up the stairs. She dared not do what she was about to do, but again she was desperate and it was worth it. She walked passed her own room and stopped at Hiei's door. She paused as she reached for the handle. She remembered the last time that Hiei had caught her in his room, he had been furious. She couldn't remember why he had been so upset but she could remember that he made her swear that it wouldn't happen again.

With a prayer that he would forgive her, she opened the door and walked into the room. She closed the door behind her and looked around. Hiei had always been a clean person, he always bickered any time she left something laying around. But this was something that was unexpected. Everything was immaculate. Not a trace of dust or even clutter of any kind. Each book that sat on the shelves was neatly tucked away straight back. Each weapon that had been collected over the years was hung or placed with care. She smiled at the thought of Hiei making sure that not one single detail of his room went awry. She walked further into the room and looked around some more. There had to be a clue as to the whereabouts of his little sister. A letter with an address or something. She hated being a snoop, but then again it was in her blood since she was a fox.

With the greatest of care, she pulled open the top drawer of the dresser that sat to the right of his bed. Not much there, just a book that he was reading and a small pad of paper. It was a note pad for when he couldn't remember something. She had seen him use these before, he actually carried one with him at all times. She lifted the first page and seen that there was a single sentence written on the page underneath. **_'If a day comes that I cannot remember, just relax, breathe and the answer will come back on it's own.'_**

"Hm," Aurora cocked her head to the side. She shrugged her shoulders and sat it back in the exact spot she had picked it up from. She closed the drawer and walked to the other side of the bed. She carefully opened the door and gasped lightly when she saw the contents. A picture of the castle and the family that she had drawn for him when she was four. She picked it up and seen that it hadn't aged a day. He had looked at it often, there wasn't any dust on it, which had to mean that he looked at it often. She smiled lightly as she looked back into the drawer and seen another notepad. This one was folded at the edges. It was used more often than the other one in the other dresser. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she picked it up.

_**'This message is for you, Aurora,'**_Aurora's eyes widened as she read the first page. She read the rest of it out loud to herself. "If you are reading this, then you have once again broken your promise to stay out of my room. I know that you are a fox and so I know that you have been in here a few more times. However, if you have found this, then there must have been a serious reason for you to be snooping. If you are looking for answers, turn to your family. They will most likely be able to answer them. If your questions cannot be answered then you must find out the answers for yourself. I cannot always be there to answer them for you."

Aurora felt guilty about reading this. She knew that if she kept reading she would learn what she wanted. But that meant going farther than the one page that was dedicated to her. She shook her head and closed the notebook and sat it back inside the drawer. She placed the painting back on the book and started to close the drawer. She stopped when something beside the bed had caught her eye. It was a tiny picture. She leaned down and picked it up. It was of a young woman with light blue hair. She was smiling brightly as she sat on the front steps of a temple. She smiled and sat the picture on top of the dresser as she closed the drawer.

It was a human world dojo, the trees in the human world were darker than the trees around here. She had learned that when she was little and now that she seen the picture she knew that she had to tell her father. She stood up and walked out of Hiei's room. She closed the door behind her and walked down the hall. She jogged down the stairs and to the library. When she arrived she told her father that she was guessing that the sister lived in the human world, but she didn't reveal why she thought so. He thanked her for her help and immediately sent scouts to see if there were any visible tracks leaving his territory into the human world. Each of them were sent with a message from the King to come home at once. They were to tell him that the King had made a mistake and if he didn't believe them, then return home and hear it from the King himself.

Aurora walked out of the library and back up to her room. Sneaking into Hiei's room had actually made her tired. She looked around the castle as she made her way back to the sleeping floors. She could see images of her and Hiei almost everywhere she looked. She seen one of her painting a picture on the floor next to a window while Hiei sat nearby reading a book. She seen other images of the two of them and their many years together. She frowned as she felt empty. She was really missing him. It had only been three days, and he had been away longer, but this time... she knew what she felt. She knew that she was missing him because now that he was gone, she felt as if she couldn't go on without him here. She would never resort to such things as ending such a pain, but she couldn't help but think there had to be a way to cope with this pain and loss.

She could hear all the things that Hiei had told her before. She looked around as his voice seemed to radiate from the walls around her. She put her ears down as she walked through the hall. His written words from earlier seemed to jump directly from the page as she could hear that last saying in her head. He couldn't always be there. She shook her head. If he only knew what those words meant to her. He didn't know that she needed him to be there. He didn't know that she had fallen in love with him. She was told that he had lied to protect her, but she had also lied to protect him. She wondered if him hearing her say that she didn't have feelings for him made him leave without a trace. She shook her head. She couldn't think like this. She knew better. She had to believe that her father and his men would find him and bring him back in a few days. They just had to because these hallowed halls were going to drive her crazy if they didn't bring him back.

_))_))

**_End of Chapter Nine. I know that Hiei didn't make an appearance in this chapter, but I promise, that he WILL be in the next chapter. Alright, ALL comments and reviews are welcomed and greatly appreciated. Until later then, keep on waiting, cuz I promise that things will get even better, and maybe even a little steamy._**


	10. Chapter 10: A Sister's Wisdom

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of the Yu Yu Hakusho series. I do own Queen Meena and Princess Aurora and General Zan and his son Roger. But that is it. And as one of my followers has asked... Yukina will make her debut here in this chapter. And I only changed the fact that Hiei is like ten or twelve years older than Yukina is. So Alrighty then my peoples. Without any more bull from me, here is the next chapter of Forbidden. **_

_))_))

Hiei sighed lightly as he leaned over the table and looked into the cup of tea that Yukina had sat in front of him. He knew that she had put a sleep aid in it, because she had been trying to get him to take one for the last two nights. He refused and knew that she was trying to dose him in one way or another. Genkai was responsible for that. She was such a sweet woman until she came to live with the old human. Now she had learned how to lie and to keep a secret from him. He didn't like that. He had loved the fact that his little sister was an innocent young woman who would do things the honest way. Now she would trick him in order to get her way. But he knew that she was only trying to help him, but he was still disappointed. His love for his sister was stronger than a little trick to get him to sleep for a few hours.

Yukina frowned as she watched her brother look into the cup with a disappointed scowl on his face. She shook her head and silently wished that he would tell her what was going on with him. He had showed up here one night and had been sulking around for three days. This was the first time that he had even sat down with her for a few minutes. Yukina looked over the table at her brother and sighed lightly.

"I wish that you would tell me what is going on with you, Hiei," Yukina said to him.

Hiei looked up at her and knew that he was going to have to tell her sooner or later. He sighed heavily and leaned back against the chair. "I was fired."

Yukina frowned. "What? Why?"

Hiei shrugged his shoulders. "All hell broke loose at the castle and Youko accused me of trying to become more than a bodyguard with Aurora."

"Is it true? The King wouldn't accuse you of such a thing unless he had merit to believe it," Yukina was a little smarter than she looked when it came to her brother. Although he was about four and a half years older than her, he was still an open book for her. Hiei had never been this upset about being fired.

Hiei shook his head lightly. "Not true at all. I mean Aurora and I have always been close. But now that she is getting a little older our bond seems to have shifted in the King's eyes. It hasn't for us though. We still were just really close friends. She trusted me and I trusted her."

Yukina sat back against her chair and pondered what her brother told her. There was something more that he wasn't saying and she tried to figure it out. "Does Aurora feel anything for you?"

Hiei shook his head. "She made it very clear to her father that she didn't have any type of feelings for me. Not the kind that the King was suspecting anyways."

"But the way you are describing it, you must know something more," Yukina said to him before taking a sip of her tea. "There has to be something more, Hiei. You have been fired before and you have never been this upset. You have been fired for many different reasons and one time you WERE fired for sleeping with the bosses daughter. What has you feeling like someone ran over your dog?"

Hiei smirked at the human expression. Thanks to Genkai and the two humans she trained for Lord Koenma, Yukina had a wide variety of sayings that she used towards him. But she was right, he did feel like someone ran over his dog and he knew the reason. He didn't want to leave, but he knew that if he had stayed, something WOULD have happened with Aurora and he dared not go down that road with the Princess.

"I'm upset because that place became my home, Yukina," Hiei lied, hoping that answer would satisfy her for the time being. "Having to leave because of the uproar that I was causing the King was the hardest thing I ever had to do. You must understand what that feels like, you have had to leave your home before."

Yukina snorted. "The Ice Kingdom was the place where we were born, and after mom died it never felt like home. I left because I wanted to be with my family, not a bunch of people that thought I was odd because of the fact that my big brother was a fire demon. Your situation, however, is somewhat similar, I have to agree."

"Thank you," Hiei said sarcastically at the reminder that he was 'The Forbidden One'. "But Yukina, they wanted you, not me. And my situation is not the same as yours. You wanted to leave that forsaken place, I didn't."

"Then why did you?" Yukina pointed out. "The King fired you, he didn't kick you out saying never to return."

Hiei looked down, damn his little sister was perceptive. He didn't have to tell her anything and she could read it in his face. That was a trait of hers that Hiei didn't like one bit. "Yeah, well I left because I had to."

"Why?" Yukina pushed. When she didn't receive an answer she sat her cup on the table and leaned forward. She cleared her throat as she delved into the mind of her brother. "You left because you DO have feelings for the Princess and you wished that you didn't. Tell me I'm wrong."

Hiei groaned as his sister read the next pages of his open booked face, making him dislike this trait of hers even more. Yukina didn't give him a chance to answer, for she had only taken a breath to continue.

"You left because you feared that staying there would only tempt you to make the King's accusations correct. You do have feelings for her and the fact that she stated out loud to her parents that she didn't return your feelings made you leave. You care more about what her parents think of you, than what is good for you."

Hiei sighed heavily. "Please don't, Yukina."

"No, Hiei," Yukina said as she pressed on. "You need to hear the truth out loud because you know that what I say is true. You don't just have any feelings for her, you do in fact love her."

Hiei looked down and groaned inwardly. Shit...

"There is something that you do not know about our kind, Hiei," Yukina said as she stood up from the chair across from him. She sat in the one that was next to his and she took his hands in hers. "When a Koorime chooses to live away from the Ice Kingdom and they choose to have a mate in life, there can only be one. Yes there can be temporary partners and an occasional fling with a stranger. But there is only one person out there for us that is our mate. Our soul mate. The one person that is created as our equal to fill in the voids of our hearts. When you find that person a very special bond is made, Hiei. One that cannot be broken. A bond that is so tight, but parties are left heartbroken when they are separated. That is what you are feeling, brother."

Hiei looked up at her. "Soul mates are a myth."

"Not true," a voice said as a horse and rider came thundering up from the forest.

Hiei blanched as he stood up from his chair. What the hell was Zan doing here?

"You are one tough cookie to track down," Zan said cheerfully as he dismounted.

"What are you doing here, Zan?" Hiei asked as the taller demon walked over to him.

To Hiei's surprise, Zan actually hugged him tightly before releasing him and reaching into his coat pocket. "I was sent by Youko. He has a message for you."

"Go home, Zan," Hiei warned darkly as Zan held out a rolled up scroll. "And take the King's message with you."

Zan frowned. "Hiei, I don't understand... he wants you back home."

Yukina smiled lightly as Hiei visibly flinched at Zan's words. "You see that, Hiei. You left a void in more than one heart."

"Zip it, Yukina," Hiei barked and slightly turned to her. His eyes were darker than normal and Yukina bit her tongue.

"Hiei, listen," Zan began but Hiei held out his hand to stop him.

"Don't," Hiei said sternly. "I am not going back. Now, you have tried to deliver the message and it was denied. Go back to Youko and tell him as much. And then leave it alone, Zan."

Zan's frown deepened as he returned the scroll to its hiding place and walked back to his horse. "Very well, Hiei. But heed this warning... the King will know where you are. And I won't be surprised if I am not the only visitor that you receive."

"Tell the King not to waste his time, I won't be here when he arrives," Hiei said coldly as he watched the man mount his horse.

Yukina shook her head lightly as Zan and his horse stared at Hiei for a moment. With a heavy heart and a dreaded message to return to the King, Zan turned his horse away and was gone as fast as he had appeared. Hiei sighed heavily as he turned to Yukina who was now standing with her hands on her hips. He frowned and knew that she was about to explode on him. He growled lightly and walked passed her into the dojo. Yukina turned and followed him closely, knowing that if she didn't talk to him now, then he would leave and she wouldn't get the chance to again.

"Hiei, why on earth did you do that? The King wanted you back, what does that tell you?" she said quickly as she tried to keep up with him.

They walked passed the two humans as they were sitting on the couch playing a video game. Genkai was standing at the doorway that lead to the bedrooms and seen that Yukina was upset. She knew that if she stood in the way, Yukina would be able to settle whatever it was that was going on with them. She stood directly in the middle of the closed doorway and crossed her arms. Hiei frowned at the old woman who dared block him in. He turned and seen that the two humans had paused their game and followed suit with the door that they had just come through. Yukina was still standing behind him waiting for his response but he refused to give it to her.

"Hiei," Yukina said softly. "If you walk away now, then you will regret it for the rest of your life. Soul mates are built and designed like that. Once that connection is made, there is NO going back. It is permanent."

"You act as if you know what it feels like, Yukina," Hiei snapped as he turned to her. "You don't, Yukina. You are still young and I know for a fact that you don't know what I am feeling."

"And what does being young have to do with it, Hiei?" Yukina barked. "You act like you are fifty years older than me, but you aren't. You are just as young as I am!"

Hiei growled at his little sister. "I have seen things that you will never see in this life, Yukina... I have been places that your darkest dreams couldn't compare to. Some things in life are never what they appear to be.."

"Enough, Hiei!" Yukina shouted. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself! If you think for one second that you are feeling like shit, think about what Aurora must be feeling! What your absence is doing to her! If you could just stop and think about what one selfish decision will do to the ones that you care about!"

Hiei frowned. For the first time, in a long time, he was only thinking about himself. He hadn't forgotten about Aurora but he didn't take into consideration what would happen if he did leave her alone. Yukina took in a deep breath. She blew it out in a slow steady motion as an attempt to calm herself down.

"If you feel so bad about having to leave, multiply it by two and add a bunch of hormones to the mix," Yukina said. "A sixteen year old girl, the soul mate that left... you left her family with a ticking time-bomb with a fragile trigger. If she hears that you refused to come back, I fear what will happen back at the castle. You had better hope that the King intercepts Zan and hears it alone, not where Aurora can hear it."

Hiei blanched again, this time causing his blood to run cold. Yukina was right, Aurora did have a temper. If she found out that he left and refused to come home, all hell would break loose all over again. He shook his head and sighed heavily. "You are right, Yukina."

"Damn straight I am!" Yukina snapped. She seen that his eyes were back to normal and smiled lightly. "You really are a stubborn man, brother."

"And you are a persistent little shit!" Hiei said to Yukina as he seen Genkai step away from the door. He turned and walked out of the door and to his bedroom. There were a few things he needed to take care of before he left to go back, he only hoped they wouldn't take very much time.

_))_))_

Three days later, Hiei was tightening the strap to his saddle when he heard a small group of horses thundering in the distance. He looked beyond Quicksilver's head and seen what he knew would be coming sooner or later. Youko and Zan and Roger were coming at him at full speed. The look on Youko's face wasn't one of anger though, Hiei knew that face all too well. He frowned as the small group came closer. Youko pulled his horse to a stop and looked around.

"Where is she, Hiei?" Youko said quickly.

"Who?" Hiei asked as he slipped the reins over the horse's head.

"Aurora!" Youko said quickly again, his breath coming in quick pants.

Hiei frowned, the look Youko was wearing was of worry, not anger. "What do you mean? I haven't seen her. What is going on?"

Zan swallowed hard. "She intercepted me before I could get the message to Youko... she has been missing ever since."

Hiei's heart fell to the floor. "Why on earth would you tell her?"

"I didn't have to! She smelt your scent on me, and put the pieces together herself," Zan defended. "She went looking for you, but the guards at the territory border said that they hadn't seen her either. Is there another way into the human world?"

Youko looked at Hiei and frowned when Hiei shook his head. "She must still be in the central lands then. Hiei you have to find her, you know her better than anyone. You know where she goes when she needs time alone."

Hiei pulled himself up onto his mount and nodded to the King. He turned back to the dojo where Yukina was standing. She waved to him with an all knowing grin on her face, he was just glad that her hearing wasn't as good as his was. For all she knew, the King was simply telling him that it was time to come home and Hiei was agreeing. He needed something that she had, though. She possessed a crystal that would show you what you want most. He knew that if he asked her, she would know instantly, but that was a chance that he was willing to take. He turned his horse to the dojo and trotted up to her.

"Give me your Ashokken crystal," he said and reached out a hand to her.

Yukina frowned. "Why?"

"I need to borrow it," he answered simply. "I will return it to you soon, I promise."

Yukina frowned deeper as she reached around her neck. She pulled off the necklace that held the special crystal that her mother had given her. Hiei knew that the crystal was how she had found him, she wanted her brother back and that crystal had led her directly to him. She handed the crystal to Hiei and smiled lightly. In that moment, he knew that she understood why he needed it.

"I hope she is alright," Yukina said softly as she looked up at the King. "I know that you will find her though."

Hiei smiled lightly and placed the crystal around his neck. He turned the horse back to the small group and kicked his heels into the horse. Like a bolt of lightning, the horse was with the group and the four of them headed back to the Youko's territory.

_))_))_

End of Chapter Ten. I told you that things would spice up soon. Now the Ashokken Crystal is not real. In the story it is a crystal that can lead a person to the thing that they desire most. It is like a compass that leads the user to what they seek. Alright, comments and reviews welcome, until next time. Hope you enjoyed.


	11. Chapter 11: Avoiding A Tragedy

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Yu Yu Hakusho series. I do own Princess Aurora, Queen Meena, General Zan and his son Roger. I will not waste any more time talking about my story... I will just let you read it for yourselves. Enjoy Chapter Eleven of Forbidden.**_

))_))_

Once the four riders returned to the Youko's territory, Hiei thought hard as to where Aurora might have gone. He honestly didn't have a clue, but he knew where she might have started. He led the four to the high ridge that overlooked the valley. He knew that he would need a high point in the territory to use the Ashokken Crystal that rested around his neck. The ridge was the highest point in the territory and the only place that he could think of. Once they arrived at the ridge, Hiei turned to Zan and his son.

"I hate to do this, but I have to ask you two to leave," Hiei told them as he dismounted his horse. "This crystal is very picky and I don't know if it will cooperate if there are a lot of people around. I hope that you two will understand."

Zan frowned and looked at the King who seemed to be considering what Hiei had said. Zan stopped and looked back at Hiei. "You speak as if the crystal is alive."

Hiei sighed lightly. "Technically, it is. Well... it's drawn to life. I just don't want to confuse it."

Youko nodded to the two demons. "It will be alright, Zan. You and your son can go back home. Tell Meena that Hiei and I will be home later with Aurora. Don't tell her that she is still missing though."

Zan nodded and he and his son turned their mounts back towards the castle that was visible in the distance. Youko turned back to Hiei who was looking out over the valley. The King dismounted and came to stand beside Hiei. Hiei sighed lightly and knew exactly how the blasted crystal worked. It had to be known that his feelings for Aurora were real and that the King accepted that. He cursed the crystal for being so damned twisted.

"Youko," Hiei said as he turned to the King. "I have to apologize to you. I never meant to lie to you, nor did I intend to disrupt your family like this."

Youko smirked lightly as he looked down at the smaller demon to his left. "I had a feeling that you were lying to me. Your feelings were real all along, weren't they."

Hiei smirked at the King's observation of fact. This statement was a fact and not directed as a question. "I only did it to protect her. But yes, they are."

"What else did you lie to me about?" the King pushed.

Hiei shook his head. "I only lied about not having feelings for her," he took a breath and swallowed the lump in his throat. "This crystal has a darker purpose, my Lord. In order for it to reveal what you seek, you have to give it a reason. If it is for a person, the crystal must know what that person means to the user."

"What do you mean a reason? What type of a reason?" the fox frowned.

Hiei sighed as he searched for a way to explain it to the King. "Yukina used it to find her only remaining family member BECAUSE she didn't want to go through life without knowing who and what her family was. They crystal couldn't lead her to me, because we had never really met, but it somehow led her to Genkai and Genkai led her to me. Genkai was my only contact before I came to live here, Youko. I thought of the old woman as a guardian of sorts. She had always offered me a safe haven when I was in the area and never once asked why I needed it. That feeling of connection and understanding is why the crystal led Yukina to Genkai."

Youko nodded and had a feeling that he knew where this was going to start to head. "So... asking for the location to your best friend wouldn't count?"

Hiei smirked and shook his head. "No, because my best friend happens to be you, you Dunce." Hiei sighed heavily and looked down at his feet. "I... I love your daughter, Youko. Asking the crystal to find my soul mate would lead us to her location, but only if you know that she is the one for me. The only one for me. Which she does happen to be, sir."

Youko frowned and remembered what Zan had told him three days earlier. "You said yourself that Soul Mates were a myth."

"Apparently not for my kind," Hiei said. "Forsaking our natural abilities and all, it somehow causes the universe to link us to one person. That one person for me happens to be Aurora... and I realize that now."

Youko sighed lightly as he rubbed his temple lightly. "So... in a sense... you are asking for my blessings to be with Aurora."

Hiei nodded softly. "I am, Youko... I just hope that you can see that I never planned it to be like this..."

"I know you didn't," Youko said and sighed heavily. "Deep down, I cannot deny that I knew that this day would come soon. Recently, it seems that Aurora is lost without you, and you too seem to be lost without her. I guess it has been known to me for a while that one day you two would become a couple... and it seems that you have always had my blessings, Hiei." Hiei snapped out of his thoughts and stared at the King as the fox continued. "I am just sorry that it took me so long to realize that you ARE the perfect man for her."

Hiei blinked and looked up at the Youko. "You would agree, willingly and fully to our union?"

Youko smiled at the thought. "Yes, I would... I will only AFTER you find her."

Hiei was shocked. That was easier than he had thought it would be. When he had planned out how to tell the youko of his feelings he had expected the stubborn fox would take weeks to agree to this... not a matter of minutes. Hiei took the crystal from his neck and looked at the King. "It doesn't like snoops... could you step back?"

Youko frowned and muttered under his breath about the blasted crystal being a pain in the ass. The King was not happy about having to obey the whims of a stupid crystal as he leaned against a tree that rested several yards away. Hiei smirked and turned back to the valley. He walked to the edge of the ridge and held the crystal out in his flattened palms.

"Alright," Hiei said softly to the crystal. "You have heard my reasons why I must find her. Show me the way to my mate..."

A soft voice that could only be heard by the user of the crystal rang out in Hiei's mind. "How can you call her that when she does not know how you feel?"

"I never had to tell her how I felt, because she always knew..." Hiei said softly. "We have both known for years but neither dared to speak our feelings out loud. Now lead me to the one I love."

Nothing happened for a moment until the small crystal started to shake in Hiei's hands and a bright strobbing light flashed several times. Hiei squinted as the strobe light continued to flash for several moments. When the light dimmed Hiei focused his vision on the crystal. A thin beam of light was pointing to the sea to the west. Hiei looked to where the beam was pointing and knew exactly where Aurora had gone. She had a hideout over the banks of the sea where she could sit and whale watch as the sun went down. Hiei smiled and sighed lightly.

"Gotcha," Hiei said loud enough for the King to hear, however before the fire demon could move, the crystal spoke again.

"Your time is limited," said the crystal. "For I am only drawn to life... Should my beam fade or break... you will be too late."

Hiei blanched and quickly put the crystal around his neck. Youko seen his quickened movements and watched as he turned to face him. The small smile that had been on his face was gone in an instant when he seen Hiei's pale face and his once bright eyes wider than normal. The fire demon didn't say a word as he walked to Quicksilver and mounted him in one swift move.

"If you fall behind, just follow the tracks," Hiei told the fox as the King mounted his horse. Youko frowned as he watched Hiei and his horse turn on a dime and shoot down the path that lead to the sea. Youko kicked his heels into Nightshade's side and followed after Hiei. However, he could see that Hiei was riding hard and keeping up was easier said than done.

))_))_

Almost two hours passed and Hiei quickly glanced over his shoulder to see how far behind that the King had fallen. To his surprise, he wasn't too far back, for he could still see the white in Nightshade's eyes. Hiei pulled the reins to slow Quicksilver to a slow walk. They had come to a bridge that was most commonly known as Widow's Bridge. It was older than the territory itself and as unstable as an infant trying to walk before it could crawl. Hiei let his horse breath for a few moments to allow the King to catch up.

"Easy, boy," Hiei said to his horse as he started to cross over the bridge. "Easy..."

As the two riders crossed the bridge they noticed that several of the rotted planks were missing. They knew that it would take a horse or someone who didn't cross slowly to knock them out. They knew that it had to have been Aurora's horse that had knocked them out. "Youko..." Hiei said as they came to the other side of the bridge.

Hiei pointed to a lone horse that was wondering around next to the cliff that led down to Aurora's hideout. The two riders recognized the beast instantly as Aurora's mount and quickly dismounted. Hiei looked down at the crystal's beam and seen that it pointed out over the cliff. However, it didn't point towards the hideout... but straight out instead of to the right where the cave rested. Hiei walked to the edge and noticed that the path that one could normally walk on to get to the cave had crumbled away. What Hiei saw below him knocked his heart out of his chest.

"Oh no," Hiei said as the King walked to his side. Aurora had dismounted and taken the path on foot, but it didn't hold and she fell to the small ledge that was below the cave's path. Hiei was leaning over to see if there was any way down when the beam from the crystal flickered suddenly. Hiei quickly stood up and walked to Quicksilver's side. Youko looked at him as he returned with a coil of rope. The King took one end of the rope as Hiei tethered the other end around his waist.

"Hiei," the King removed a satchel from around his shoulder and handed it to Hiei. "Take this with you. It has everything you might need."

Hiei placed the satchel over his shoulder and looked at the King. He reassured the King that she was still alive and that he wasn't about to let anything happen to her. He told Youko that he had given him a promise many years ago that he would do anything in his power to keep the Princess safe. "I'm not about to break that promise."

Youko nodded and watched as Hiei began to shimmy his way down the cliff side. As Hiei got closer, he could hear Aurora groan in pain and a cough every now and then. "Hold on, baby. I'm coming."

A few feet later Hiei was able to place his feet on the ledge next to Aurora. But he realized quickly that there wasn't much room to do much else. He looked around at the ledge and frowned. He had seen this ledge before, and never could he have imagined that it was this small before. But several clumps of rock slid from the edge of the ledge and he realized that it wasn't as stable as he had thought. He frowned as he looked up at the Youko.

"The ground isn't going to hold both of us very much longer!" he shouted up to the King. "You are going to have to pull us both up before we can tend to her wounds!"

"How bad is she hurt?" the King called out.

Hiei crouched and felt her neck for a pulse, it was there but not as strong as he had hoped. He then felt the back of her ribcage to feel a rib was broken. He checked her arms and looked down at her legs to see that her ankle was definately broken. Hiei turned back up to the King, "A few broken bones but she's got a steady pulse..." Hiei had slightly shifted his weight and that had caused a large chunk of the ledge to crumble into the sea below. "I can't move too much... Youko you have to pull us up!"

Youko called his horse to his side and tied the rope to the saddle. He then pulled a second rope out of the saddle of his horse. Quicksilver had followed the other horse and Youko tied the end of the second rope to his saddle. He was just about to send the other end of the rope down when Hiei's voice caught his ears.

"I'm running out of ledge to stand on down here!" Hiei had called.

"Yeah, yeah, I've gotcha," Youko said sarcastically as he tossed the second rope over the cliff. Once Hiei had the second rope in hand he bent back down to Aurora's side.

As Hiei slid the rope around her waist she winced and groaned at the slight contact. She cried out when Hiei tied the rope's knot around her waist. "Aurora," Hiei called out to her softly. "Aurora, come on baby, wake up."

The ground beneath them crackled loudly again as he noticed Aurora's eyes open slightly. "Aurora... come on, baby, I need you to wake up now... come on." Her eyes opened all the way and Hiei sighed a sigh of relief.

"... Hiei?" Aurora groaned as she looked up and seen Hiei crouched beside her. "What's happening?"

Hiei smiled lightly at her and looked up. "Come on, Aurora, we have to go. I need you to put your arms around my neck. Come on."

Aurora flinched as she began to push herself up in order to wrap her arms around his neck. She paused and Hiei met her halfway. He pulled her closer as she cried out. He slowly lifted her to a standing position and felt her wince as she put her weight on her foot. "I know it hurts, sweety," he said. "But it's gonna have to hurt for a few minutes."

Youko seen Hiei grip the rope tied around his waist and moved to the front of the two horses. He gathered their reins and was about to give the order to move but a loud crumbling sound drowned out the crashing waves. The cliff that he stood on shook and he heard Aurora scream as the horses were pulled back a few steps. The rope that was tethered to Quicksilver's saddle broke and the horse took two steps forward. The King quickly tied Nightshade's reins to the saddle of Hiei's horse and ordered him back. The King clicked his tongue and almost instantly Quicksilver started to step back as Nightshade moved forward. Soon both mounts worked together and within minutes he seen Hiei's arm over the side of the cliff. He also seen Aurora's hands grab the edge as the two mounts continued their stride. Hiei was the first to climb onto the cliff and he quickly pulled Aurora up beside him.

"Ow... Ow..." Aurora cried as Hiei quickly cut the rope from her side. Once free of the rope Hiei gently laid her back and her eyes closed as she blacked out from the pain. He groaned as he untied the rope from his own waist and sat back.

"How are you?" Youko asked as he sat on his knees next to the two of them.

"I'm alright," Hiei replied as he pulled the satchel from around his shoulder. "Guess I didn't need this after all."

Youko smiled as he took the satchel and opened it to retrieve several of its contents. "It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."

Hiei smirked lightly and realized that he needed to lie down as the world began to spin. With a groan he leaned back until he landed with a thud. Youko flinched at the hardness that he had hit and looked the little demon over, surprised that he too had blacked out. Youko chuckled lightly to himself and shook his head as he began to tend to the wounds on his daughter. "What am I going to do with you two?"

))_))_

_**End of chapter Eleven... Hope you enjoyed and hope you tune in for the heartwarming conclusion in the next chapter. Again, any and all comments and reviews are greatly appreciated and I look forward to reading them. Until next time, hope you enjoyed.**_


	12. Chapter 12: A Long Awaited Ending

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Yu Yu Hakusho series. I do own the Princess, The Queen, and General Zan, but that is it. Now... the moment that you have all been waiting for. The unforgettable conclusion to Forbidden.**_

))_))_

Six months after the incident at the seaside cliffs, Aurora was finally off of bed rest. Her ankle had finally healed and she was able to walk again without the assistance from others. The household seemed to be completely different. The news that Hiei and Aurora were now a courting couple caused quite a buzz throughout the castle and throughout the Kingdom as well. Because of the age difference between Hiei and Aurora, the King had made Hiei promise him that he would wait until Aurora was eighteen before there was anything other than simple courting. To his surprise, Hiei said that he was willing to wait as long as it took. But even the King knew that if Aurora had any say in it, they would be married by the evening of her eighteenth birthday. But somehow, Hiei was able to convince her to wait until winter.

"On one condition, will I wait until the winter," Aurora told him when he had made his request.

"Name it," Hiei said softly.

"Yukina joins us here, as my maid of honor," Aurora smiled as Hiei's eyes lit up at her request. "That is if she wants to, of course."

Hiei chuckled as he thought about his sister coming here. "I am pretty sure that she wouldn't have it any other way."

He knew that Yukina was a very respectful woman when it came to royalty... but when it came to Hiei, she could be meaner than a cobra on a hotplate. He knew if he asked her to come, though, she wouldn't give it a second thought. She was fond of him, and sometimes, he couldn't see why. He knew that he could be a jerk sometimes, he was as stubborn as a mule and he had lied to her about who he was for several years before he finally came out and told her the truth. However, Yukina was all about family. She only had him, and he knew that she was anxious for her tiny family to expand. That tiny thought made Hiei grin.

"You are in la-la land again, aren't you, Hiei," Aurora said to him as she waved her hand in front of his face. "Hello, earth to Hiei!"

Hiei blinked and realized that he was standing in the middle of the gardens with Aurora grinning cheekily at him. "What?"

She laughed as he looked around and seen that there were several of the castle workers staring at him as well. He looked down and seen that Aurora had walked him into the middle of the fountain that stood at the center of the Queen's rose garden. Aurora smirked and let go of his hand as he realized where he was.

"Maybe next time you will pay attention to where we are walking, instead of going off somewhere that I cannot follow," she said smartly and turned to walk away.

Hiei grumbled as he stepped out of the fountain and sat on the bench next to it. He looked up and seen the gardener looking at him and trying to hide his smirk. "Maybe you can tell me what I did to deserve that."

The gardener looked at him and smiled. "I think you walked her into a few of the bushes before you reached the fountain. She tried to steer clear but you just kept on walking and so she let you do as you were doing."

"Figures," he grumbled as he pulled off his shin high army boots. He turned them on their side and let the water out of them. He shook his head as he repeated the process with the other boot and sat them on the ground beside the bench. He rubbed his hands through his hair and sighed. "Youko... is this what I have to look forward to?"

Youko chuckled as he walked up to the little fire demon. He sat an extra pair of boots on the ground next to Hiei and sat down next to him on the bench. "Well, when I first married Meena I thought that I had married a child because of the crap that we used to do. Walking me into the fountain never happened, but then again the fountain was only brought here about seven or eight years ago..."

"You and Meena... you were playful?" Hiei asked as he replaced his boots with the dry pair.

"Yeah," Youko said. "We still are, however, Aurora is here and therefore we can't 'playful' in the open as much."

Hiei frowned as he understood what kind of playful that the fox was talking about. He shook his head and tied up his boot. "I don't want to hear about your sex life, thank you very much."

Youko chuckled lightly as he watched Hiei. "You are just jealous that I get some, and you don't."

Hiei looked up at him and glared to see that the King had bated him into this conversation. "You really suck, you know that."

Youko laughed out loud and stood up. "Yeah, I know..." he stretched his arms above his head. "And Meena knows it too."

Hiei shivered and shook his head as the Youko laughed out loud again and walked away. Hiei finished tying up his other boot and looked at the sundial next to him. He groaned and seen that it was lunchtime. Zan had been trying to prove himself to the housekeeper and her husband that he wasn't such a bad guy. However Hiei knew that the Horn's wouldn't see him as anything but a rake that just wanted their daughter. He shook his head as he knew that today was going to be a verbal assault just like it had been the previous afternoon. He stood up and walked into the dining hall to see Zan joking and laughing with Aurora. She obviously had told him about Hiei's daydreaming and walking into the fountain and he knew that the General wasn't about to let him live that down. However, he watched as Zan stopped laughing and watch Mr. Horn walk into the hall. Aurora smiled lightly to the gardener and walked away. Zan walked over to the gardener and started to talk to him instead. Aurora came to stand next to Hiei with a small smile on her face.

"What are you smiling about?" Hiei grumbled as she looked over at him.

"Glad that you could join us," she said softly. "Thought that you were getting... cold feet."

Hiei growled lightly at her and elbowed her lightly in the arm as she giggled lightly and walked to the table. Meena and Youko were smirking about something and he guessed that it was about him as well. But the air in the room suddenly shifted once he sat at the table. Aurora was sitting next to him, instead of across from him and there was a new table setting where Aurora normally sat next to Zan and Meena. She smiled lightly and leaned in to talk to him.

"The Horns' have finally agreed to let them have a VERY chaperoned lunch together," Aurora whispered as Zan sat down across from them. "Only if Zan agreed to keep his hands and everything else to himself during the duration of lunch."

"That would be a first," Hiei replied as he looked at Zan who sat across from him. "Not sure that is going to happen if you ask me."

"Hey," Zan said as he looked at Hiei. "I can behave myself..."

The look on his face said that he could TRY to behave himself. Hiei and Aurora chuckled lightly as the three Horns sat down at the table. After the plates had been served and the meal began, Hiei noticed that the little housekeeper's daughter kept stealing glances at Zan but he was trying to behave himself and not notice them. Hiei grinned as he took another bite out of his meal. This was a first... three people that didn't get along were sitting in a peaceful setting... and they were actually having a nice meal together. However, the topic of discussion swiftly changed when the chef asked if the queen would like a glass of champagne with her meal.

"Not on your life," the King said and shooed the chef away.

Meena smiled and blushed as she went back to her meal. "Maybe in nine or ten months, but not before then."

Aurora's mouth dropped open as she understood the meaning behind her statement. She smiled and looked at Hiei. "Is it true, mama?"

Meena smiled as she looked up at her daughter. "Eager to become the older sibling are you."

Aurora's smile brightened as she looked at her parents. "Duh! I can't believe it! Mama, your pregnant!"

Meena nodded lightly and a round of congrats was passed to the royal family. Hiei sighed lightly as he looked down at his plate. He suddenly felt full even though he hadn't eaten very much. Is this why the King had teased him in the gardens? Was he trying to tell him that there was going to be an even bigger event before their wedding that was still eighteen months away? He hid his disappointment but the King had seen it and knew that he would have to apologize to Hiei personally once lunch was over. However, the good news was no where near done. Zan suddenly choked when Sadie had leaned over and whispered something to him. He turned and looked her up and down and then swallowed hard as he turned and looked to her parents. They weren't as happy as she was but they had obviously known before she had told him. The Horns were giving him the benefit of the doubt because Zan was the father of their first grandchild.

"You are serious?" he asked her and she nodded. "Really?"

"Yes," she said softly and she reached out to hug him. "I am pretty sure."

Hiei groaned lightly and looked away as he thought about excusing himself from the meal. He knew that everyone would notice the change in him and decided against the thought. The congrats had passed around again and the King slowly watched Hiei's mood. He knew that Hiei wanted to have the same type of happiness as everyone else, and he knew that Aurora wanted it as well. He and Meena had discussed that very topic several times before but he just couldn't bring himself to allow that to happen. Aurora was still only seventeen, just turned seventeen a few weeks before and knew that the wait was killing them both.

Meena looked at her husband and knew what he was thinking about. As the meal progressed, she placed her hand on Youko's leg and gave him THAT look. He hated that look because she knew that he would crack. He shook his head and continued the meal. She clenched her jaw and leaned forward.

"You are being unfair!" she whispered to her husband. "Can't you see what this type of news does to them both."

"Enough, Meena," he said softly and ignored her glaring eyes. He knew that he was going to give in to her wishes because she was not above holding out on him to get her way. He waited until the others had finished eating and asked Meena, Hiei and Aurora to join him in the library.

Meena smiled triumphantly as she knew what was coming. Hiei groaned as the four of them walked down the hall. Meena glanced over her shoulder and smiled lightly as they went into the library. Youko closed the door behind Hiei and Aurora and sighed lightly. He knew that this was going to be the hardest moment of his life.

"What is it, daddy?" Aurora asked once he turned to the small group that had been gathered.

Youko sighed lightly. "I am surprised that you two have behaved yourselves this long. Hiei, I am sorry for what I said in the courtyard. It wasn't meant to insult you in any way... just trying to give you a heads up about Meena."

"We have been dropping hints everyday for the last three days and no one has picked up on any of them..." Meena said and looked at her husband. "And why would he have thought that you were being insensitive, Youko?"

Hiei set his jaw and shifted uncomfortably. He wanted to say something but the King shook his head. "I took our conversation a little too far, and I didn't mean to."

Meena frowned at Youko but he waved it off, instead he turned to the two younger members of the family and sighed lightly. "I know that you two want to be together, and I know that you two are trying to behave yourselves. And I know how hard that can be."

Hiei swallowed the lump in his throat as he thought back on what the King had to be talking about. He and Aurora had taken a bit of time away from the castle and went swimming in the ocean. They had kissed a bit but nothing more than that. He couldn't remember having done anything wrong but... had sneaking off been that wrong... Uh-oh. The King looked from Hiei to his daughter and smiled lightly.

"If you two can behave in public..." he began but stopped as he questioned what he was about to do.

"We have, papa," Aurora said. "More than you think!"

Meena held up her hand and hushed them so that the King could finish his statement. The King sighed lightly and walked to his desk. There was a document on the top of his desk and he picked it up. There were actually two pages and he separated them. He walked around the desk.

"It is customary for the Princess to be eighteen before she is married," Youko said. "But if you two can behave in public and keep the secret that I am offering... I will marry the two of you in secret, right here, right now... until the time that you are eighteen."

He held out the documents to the two young demons before him, both their mouths hung open in shock. They took the documents and looked them over. It was a simple marriage certificate. A temporary one that would bind them as husband and wife in the eyes of the King and the Queen. There was only four lines at the bottom of the documents that needed to be signed. The King's signature, the Queen's signature, and Hiei and Aurora's signatures. Hiei looked up at the King and frowned.

"You are willing to do this?" he asked. "Why now?"

He sighed lightly. "I already told you, I know personally how hard it is to behave when the one that you want is right there. I see the way you two look at each other... I know that both of you are having a hard time dealing with the fact that you two are the only couple bound by law to be separated until the wedding."

Meena smiled lightly. "You two are soul mates and we have discussed this between each other already. I personally do not think that it is fair that you two are so close to each other and yet you two cannot have each other. I think that you two are old enough and responsible enough to behave and not let any... mishaps happen until after the public wedding."

Hiei looked at the contract again and seen that Aurora was blushing. Her parents know her too well and it was plain to see that they were one hundred percent talking about her. She swallowed lightly and looked up at her father. She had a look on her face that touched Youko's heart. It was total admiration. She had silently wanted something like this to happen and she realized that her silent prayers had finally been answered. Her father had seen what she wanted and was giving it to her on a silver platter.

Youko walked to the other side of his desk and picked up a pen. He held it out and watched as both Hiei and Aurora stepped forward. He smirked lightly as Aurora signed her name on both documents and passed the pen to Hiei who also signed both papers. Meena smiled and signed her name where it needed to be. She handed the pen to Youko and he took a breath before placing the tip on the paper. He signed his name on both certificates and then reached for his official royal seal. He dipped the end into the ink pad that was sitting next to the seal and placed his seal on both certificates. He looked up and sighed lightly.

"This is only temporary," he stated as he held out both certificates. "When it comes time for your real marriage before the eyes of the rest of the kingdom, you will have no choice but to stay away from each other for the three days that lead up to the wedding. You will obey this one rule... NO ONE is to know about this... not Yukina, Zan or even the housemaids. Should you spend time with each other behind closed doors, the staff cannot find out..."

Hiei and Aurora nodded. "Yes sir," they both said in unison.

Youko sighed lightly again and shook his head. "Get out of here... but I DO expect both of you at dinner!"

Hiei nodded and the two turned and walked out of the library. Each headed to their rooms and hid their precious cargo, both kind of nervous about what was going to happen. Hiei placed his safe back underneath his bed and looked up as he heard his door close. Meena stood there and smiled lightly at him.

"What can I do for you, my lady?" he asked as he stood up from his crouched position beside the bed.

"I have talked Youko into letting you two off the hook for the night," she said with a smile in her voice. "I have arranged for the two of you to go to the eastern village, for the evening. But that is what the castle thinks. In fact, the two of you will be here. The western wing is practically uninhabited. I think that you two can have a nice night there without the fear of being caught."

Hiei frowned and looked at the Queen. He suddenly realized that it was all her idea about this entire situation. She had seen how hard it was for them when everyone else was having fun at night with their loved ones. She was the one that convinced the King to marry them privately. And most of all, she was the one that was pushing them to have that fun that the two of them had been missing out on. Now Hiei had been with a few women before but they were nothing to him but booty calls. He knew what it was to sleep with someone, but he had never understood why people were all worked up about it. He had always thought that you really did have to love someone for it to be fun. The Queen smiled knowingly as she turned and walked out of the room. The door closed and Hiei blinked. Instead of Meena standing there, it was Aurora. She smiled as she had caught him deep in thought again. He smiled lightly as he knew that she was going to comment on his thoughts again but he wasn't about to give her the chance. He took her by the hand and pulled her close.

"What did my mother have to say?" Aurora asked him.

Hiei's smile grew brighter. "She got us out of dinner for the night..." he kissed her forehead lightly. "And she saved us from getting caught, by giving us a place to stay for the night..."

"The Western Wing," Aurora said and smiled lightly. "You know why people don't go down there, right?"

Hiei smiled darkly and knew all too well why no one would go there. Couples went down there to get away from the hustle and bustle of the castle life. The servants were not allowed down there unless it was the weekend. That would simply mean that they had the entire wing to themselves that night. And to think... it was only noon.

))_))_

Hiei closed and locked the door behind him. The two of them had had a hell of a time sneaking all the way down here together without being caught. The Queen had called a staff meeting and several of the staff members decided that their work was more important than the Queen's meeting. Hiei pulled Aurora into his arms and kissed her lightly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into the kiss. Hiei kissed her cheek and then her lips and then her other cheek. He looked at her and smiled lightly.

"I love you, Aurora," he said softly. "I have always loved you... from the moment your mother placed you in my arms... and I will always love you... until my dying breath. I will spend my life by your side. I will spend my nights in your bed, and I will give you my entire heart. I swear."

Aurora smiled as she kissed him lightly. "I love you too, Hiei," she kissed his cheek and then his lips. "I will spend my life proving that very statement. You have always had my heart, you have always had my love, and you will always have me. I swear this to you."

Hiei kissed her lightly and laid her upon the bed. The last thought that either of them could remember was their professed love for each other. Their love was everlasting and nothing could tear them apart. The King and Queen had given them their blessing and the Princess gave the Forbidden One her very precious gift. Her love and her heart.

The End.

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_**Awwww! The End! It's so bittersweet... Well I hope you all enjoyed the story... I hope that you follow me for my next stories to come. Please give me your comments and your reviews! I really want to hear from my readers and I hope that you will all come back for more. **_


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